CHICAGO, Oct. 31, 2019 — Trevor Tompson, formerly vice president of NORC and a founder of the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, has been promoted to senior vice president and head of the new Public Affairs and Media Research department at NORC at the University of Chicago.

This new department will incorporate The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, as the team continues to extend its portfolio to include strategic consulting work for foundations and nonprofits. The team’s recent work includes polling for public release for clients like AARP, New America, and Ethicon, as well as work for media organizations, including The Washington Post and MTV. This is all in addition to existing work with NORC’s primary media partner, The Associated Press (AP).

“We’re excited by the rapidly growing portfolio of work that builds on all of the vast expertise of NORC in so many research areas,” said Tompson. “By having The AP-NORC Center nested within this new department, the team will have the ability to offer solutions for other clients and projects within the public affairs and media research domain while continuing to serve our public interest mission.”

The Public Affairs team leverages the capabilities of AmeriSpeak, NORC’s breakthrough panel-based research platform, as well as NORC’s expertise in policy analysis, statistics and methodology, social media analysis, qualitative research, and many other areas.

Tompson joined NORC in 2012 from his previous role as AP’s global director of polling, to create The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The Center’s weekly research insights make headlines and influence public discourse on today’s most significant issues. Tompson will continue to serve as director of The AP-NORC Center in his new role.

“Trevor is uniquely qualified to lead this new department given his editorial leadership at one of the world’s most prominent news organizations, his academic training in survey research methodology, his deep understanding of election and media research, and his business development expertise,” said Chet Bowie, executive vice president of Research.

Tompson led the team that developed AP VoteCast, the next-generation election survey developed by AP and NORC that launched in 2018 and that will be expanded to cover the full cycle of elections in 2020. He has built a dynamic team of professionals that continues to contribute innovative ideas to the broader NORC enterprise.

Tompson has a degree in political science from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Tompson assumed his new position on October 8.