President and CEO of Zogby International, remains by all accounts the hottest pollster in the United States today. “All hail Zogby, the maverick predictor who beat us all,” proclaimed the Washington Post in November 1996 after Zogby alone called that presidential election with pinpoint accuracy. In the recent razor-thin 2000 elections, daily national tracking polls conducted by Zogby International in the last few weeks foretold a tightening of the race for president while nearly all other polling firms projected an easy victory for Gov. George W. Bush. Zogby International instead was the first to observe the gap closing significantly between Bush and Vice-President Al Gore in the waning hours of the election. In his post election 2000 review, the acclaimed Godfrey Sperling, columnist for the Christian Science Monitor called John Zogby “Champion Pollster.”

“In 1996, John Zogby came within one-tenth of 1 percent of the presidential result - the best performance turned in by any of the pollsters. This year Mr. Zogby was the first pollster I heard being cited on TV as finding that Gore was pulling out slightly, by 2 percent, ahead of Mr. Bush. But when I talked to Zogby a few days ago, he was elated with how close he had come this year to predicting the final outcome - and rightly so.”

Since 1996, Zogby has polled for Reuters News Agency, the largest news agency in the world, and in 2000 polled for NBC News, the network news watched by most Americans. His clients also include MSNBC, the New York Post, Fox News, Gannett News Service, the Albany Times Union, the Buffalo News, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cincinnati Post, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Toledo Blade, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, the Syracuse Herald, and nearly every daily newspaper in New York State, as well as television stations throughout the U.S. He has been praised as “the most accurate pollster” (Seattle Post Intelligencer, Cleveland Plain Dealer, USA Today), “respected” and “pioneering” (Albany Times Union), “the pace setter in the polling business” (New York Post), and “the big winner in 1996” (Campaigns and Elections, L. Brent Bozell, and the O’Leary/Kamber Report).

Zogby regularly appears on all three nightly network news programs plus NBC’s “Today Show,” ABC’s “Good Morning America” and is a frequent guest for Fox News and MSNBC special programs, along with CNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews.” He also is a regular political commentator for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the British Broadcasting Corporation.

He has also distinguished himself in Canada where he alone called the popular vote victory of the Liberals over the Parti Quebecois in the Quebec election of 1998. He was the first pollster to see a victory for Vicente Fox in the 2000 Mexican election, and triumphed in the 2001 Israeli election being the only pollster to call the 26-point margin victory of defense minister, Ariel Sharon. Zogby further distinguished himself by polling the Iran Presidential election closer than even the Iran News Agency. Zogby holds degrees in history from Le Moyne College and Syracuse University. He has taught history and political science at the State University of New York, Utica College, and at Hamilton College’s Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center. In addition he is a member of the Board of Trustees of Le Moyne College. He received the distinguished Alumni Award in June 2000. Zogby is also a Senior Associate of Global Affairs of Citizenship & Public Affairs at Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a distinguished visitor at Colgate University.

A frequent lecturer and panelist, he has addressed conventions of the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Health Insurance Association of America, the Euromoney Conference in Cairo, Egypt, plus prestigious organizations such as the Sperling Breakfast in Washington, D.C.; The American Association of Public Opinion Research, (panelist with Gallup, CBS and Roper); the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Empower America, as well as local groups like the City Club of Cleveland and the Metropolitan Women’s Club of Minneapolis, national and state gatherings of labor, public advocacy, and public administration groups. He has addressed both the Republican and Democratic Senators at their retreats. John Zogby has addressed the U.S. State Department and numerous House and Senate Committees. Other speaking engagements include the Center for Government Studies at the University of Virginia and the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University. He is listed with Leading Authorities, a top speakers bureau in Washington, DC and the National Speakers’ Bureau, in Chicago. He continues to lecture all over the world. He also serves on the Advisory Council for Bio-Technology for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

He has polled, researched and consulted for a wide spectrum of business media, government, and political groups including Coca Cola, Microsoft, CISCO Systems, Philip Morris, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, MCI, Reuters America, and the United States Census Bureau since 1984.

Zogby has polled extensively throughout the world, including influencers from 6 African nations and a number of countries in Latin America. Zogby’s extensive polling in the Arab World includes the recently released 10-nation survey (6 Arab, 3 Muslim non-Arab, 1 European, and 1 Latin American) measuring public opinion about Americans and American culture. Other notable polling in the region includes the Arab World Information Technology poll conducted in Cairo, Egypt. He also was guest speaker at the 1999 World Economic Council Forum, held in Cairo, and again will be a panelist at the 2001 World Economic Council Forum, to be held in Washington, D.C. Zogby has polled and conducted focus groups throughout the United States. He has polled in Canada, Brazil, Latin America, Eastern Europe, South Korea, along with the Middle East.

He is married to Kathleen Zogby, a special education teacher, and has three sons, Jonathan, Benjamin, and Jeremy.

Shems: How were your visions and goals formed? did they spring from childhood dreams or develop later in life? What were they, and what are they now?

My father immigrated from Lebanon and worked 12 hours per day, 6 days a week in his own supermarket. He taught me hard work, patience, endurance, and he once told me that “a man can do anything he wants to do“. My mother, also Lebanese, was born in the US, and was a remarkable teacher for over 30 years. She taught me to never give up, to set my goals very high, and to never let anyone or anything stand in my way. Since childhood, I have loved politics, elections, campaigns, etc. I always wanted to have a great influence on this process. The fact that people listen to what I say and comment on what I do is very gratifying.

Shems: With your use of the knowledge of sociology, psychology, mathematics and more, you have transcended prophecy tainted predictions and moved into a niche of computation, which measures many of the complexities of human behavior. What aspects of your methods do you believe give you the leading edge on your competitors?

I am very careful in determining the “voter turnout model“ - that is, which demographics will turn out to vote in a particular election. I use a mix of math, science, and art - artwork is a very important piece of this business. That is derived from my study of history, from reading history and novels. The latter provide the best insights into the motivations, passions, and behavior of people.

Shems: Have the findings of your polls influenced your own views of the world or American culture? In what ways?

They always impact me. I am personally against the sale and distribution of guns. But I have learned that guns are a part of our culture, our rights. That is how people see their right to possess guns. It is not how I like it - but I have learned that that is how it is.

Shems: Who has been your greatest influence, inside or outside of the United States?

I am very close to my brother, Jim. We work together, think together, grow together, and make our mark on the world together.

Shems: Based on what you know today, what is your advice to readers who wish to succeed in their own pursuits and dreams?

Never give up. If you have a dream, do not let anyone or anything stand in your way.