FROM GEORGE TO GEORGE
PRESIDENTIAL MEMORIBILIA EXPERTS

Hal Williams, SMU presidential scholar and curator of the "From George to George: Presidential Elections in the United States from 1789 to the Present" exhibit. He is an expert on late 19th and early 20th century American history. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University.

Hervey Priddy, Ph.D. candidate in American History at the University of Texas at Austin and exhibit curator. Priddy has collected political memorabilia for the past 20 years. He recently donated his collection to SMU's Bridwell Library, which makes up the bulk of the exhibit "From George to George."

Harold Stanley, the Geurin-Pettus Distinguished Professor of American Politics and Political Economy. Stanley is teaching a course to SMU undergraduates this fall on the history of American presidential campaigns. He is the author of several books, among them Vital Statistics on American Politics, now in its 9th edition. His current research concerns presidential nominations, voting rights and partisan change. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University.

Dennis Simon, SMU associate professor of political science. Simon received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University. He teaches and does research in the areas of public opinion, electoral behavior, and the American presidency. His current research includes a study of elections in the American South (funded by a grant from the Dirksen Center) and Breaking the Glass Ceiling, a book-length study of women as candidates for the United States Congress, to be published in the Women and Politics series of Routledge Press.

Cal Jillson, SMU professor of political science. As a scholar of American politics, Cal Jillson shares his knowledge of how government and politics work, in particular the development of American institutions and ideas and how they continue to shape national debates. Besides teaching and researching in his field, Jillson is a frequent media commentator, regularly quoted in the national news. He also joins the broadcast team of Dallas' WFAA-TV as political analyst during election coverage. He earned a doctorate in government and politics in 1979 from the University of Maryland and has been teaching about American politics since 1976. Since moving to Texas in the mid-1990s, he has charted the rise to power of President George W. Bush and has written extensively on third-party politics. On the international side, Cal is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. From 1996 to 2001, he directed the Tower Center for Political Studies, which looks at domestic politics and national security issues. His most recent book is Pursuing the American Dream: Opportunity and Exclusion Over Four Centuries. Jillson is the author of a popular government text book, American Government: Historical Change and Institutional Development (Harcourt-Brace, 1998) now in its third edition. His other books are Congressional Dynamics (Stanford University Press, 1994), New Perspectives on American Politics (Congressional Quarterly Press, 1994) and The Dynamics of American Politics (Westview Press, 1994). All deal with the origins of American legislatures and with the health and performance of contemporary American political institutions.

For more campaign and election experts, visit SMU's Election 2004 Web site.