Bruce Chapman
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Bruce K. Chapman (born 1940) is the director and founder of the Discovery Institute, an American conservative Christian think tank, with links to the religious right.[1] He was previously a journalist, a Republican Party politician and a diplomat.
[edit] Biography
Chapman was born in 1940 in Evanston, Illinois. After graduating from Harvard University in 1962, he served in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, and worked as an editorial writer for the New York Herald Tribune. In 1966 Chapman moved to Seattle and wrote a book entitled The Wrong Man in Uniform, arguing against conscription.
Chapman became active in politics through the Seattle Young Republicans, and became a member of the United States Republican Party. He was elected to the Seattle City Council in 1971. In 1975, he was appointed Secretary of State for the state of Washington. He campaigned for the office of Governor of Washington in 1980, but ultimately did not win the Republican nomination.
Chapman was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the position of Director of the United States Census Bureau and served in that role from 1981 until 1983. Between 1983 and 1985 he was Deputy Assistant to President Reagan and Director of the White House Office of Planning and Evaluation. From 1985 to 1988 he served in the appointed position of United States Ambassador to the United Nations Organizations in Vienna. His portfolio included nuclear proliferation, refugees, economic development, and the control of narcotics.
From 1988 to 1990 Chapman was a fellow at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank. In 1990 , he left Hudson and founded the Discovery Institute. The institute is best known as the hub of the intelligent design movement,[2] and also focuses on a broad range of issues, including transportation and international cooperation in the Cascadia region.
Chapman is a Roman Catholic.
[edit] References
- ^ Patricia O’Connell Killen, a religion professor at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma whose work centers on the regional religious identity of the Pacific Northwest, recently wrote that "religiously inspired think tanks such as the conservative evangelical Discovery Institute" are part of the "religious landscape" of that area. [1]
- ^ What is...'Intelligent Design?' Terence Kealey. The Times, UK, December 18 2004.
[edit] External links
- Discovery Institute biography
- Discovery's Creation A brief history of the founding of the Discovery institute and how the Wedge Document was made public.
- Articles on Secretaries of State for Washington
- Lecture by Bruce Chapman on "What Does A Think Tank Think About?" in July, 2006 Mr. Chapman provides a tour of the think tank world and explains how "policy wonks" influence public policy.
