The Jefferson-born University of Iowa graduate who invented modern public-opinion polling.
George Horace Gallup was born on November 18, 1901, in Jefferson, Iowa, and earned his degrees — including a doctorate — at the University of Iowa. He pioneered scientific sampling to measure public opinion.
In 1935 he founded the American Institute of Public Opinion, and in 1936 his polling famously predicted Franklin Roosevelt's re-election, embarrassing the era's leading straw poll and establishing scientific polling as the standard.
Gallup's methods reshaped journalism, politics, and marketing, and the Gallup organization remains a global name in survey research. He proved a small, well-drawn sample could speak for millions.
He stands among Iowa's most influential social scientists.
The Jefferson-born University of Iowa graduate who invented modern public-opinion polling.
George Gallup was from Jefferson, Iowa.
1901–1984.
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