Glenn Poshard

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Glenn Poshard

Glenn Poshard (born October 30, 1945 in Herald, Illinois) is a former Illinois State Senator, U.S. Congressman, Gubernatorial Candidate, and is currently President of the Southern Illinois University system.

Early career

Glenn Poshard is a three-degree graduate of Southern Illinois University. He earned a bachelor's degree in secondary education in 1970, a master's degree in educational administration in 1974 and a Ph.D. in administration of higher education in 1984. After graduating college, he taught high school, coached high school sports, and served as director of the Southern Illinois Educational Service Center in Benton, Illinois from 1975 to 1982.

He served in the Illinois State Senate from 1984 to 1988.

Congressional service

Poshard ran for U.S. Representative from Illinois' 22nd Congressional District and was elected in 1988, where he served until 1992 when he was forced to run in the 19th district because of redistricting. Poshard, a Democrat, represented the 19th district in the United States Congress from 1993 to 1998. As Congressman, he was considered to be a social conservative and fiscal populist; he was opposed to abortion and the death penalty largely on religious grounds, and opposed free trade agreements and encouraged fiscal responsibility.

Gubernatorial campaign

In 1998 Glenn Poshard ran for governor against Republican Secretary of State George Ryan. He was considered by many to be to the right of his centrist opponent — specifically on issues like abortion, which gained him the support of many social conservatives who would normally vote Republican.

Poshard strongly supported campaign finance reform. In his campaign, Poshard severely curtailed contributions to his campaign, refusing to accept any corporate or special interest group donations and limiting private donations to a small amount per individual. Because of his stance on campaign finances, Poshard faced a significant financial disadvantage in the campaign against Ryan and was outspent by a roughly 4 to 1 margin.

Glenn Poshard was first to alert the public about George Ryan's connection to the licenses for bribes scandal and other corruption. Some individuals, even prominent Democrats like former Senator Paul Simon, criticized Poshard for his attacks on Ryan's corruption. Simon and others were proven wrong several years later when Ryan was indicted in late 2003 on 22 counts of racketeering conspiracy, mail and tax fraud, and false statements charges alleging public corruption during his terms as Illinois Secretary of State and as Governor. Ryan was subsequently convicted and was sentenced to serve six and a half years in prison.

Poshard lost the Governor's race to Ryan by a 47%-51% margin. In his concession speech, Poshard declared that "no purpose is served by anger or resentment. No good is served by dropping out of the system in the future. The time for disappointment is only for this evening. Tomorrow we go back to work."

Continued public service

After he left Congress, Poshard and his wife Jo founded the Poshard Foundation for Abused Children, which raises more than $100,000 annually to fund care for abused children and other victims of domestic abuse throughout southern Illinois. Among its many activities, the Poshard Foundation led efforts to construct a new $600,000 women's shelter in Cairo that opened in December 2003.

Poshard also served for four years as the Vice Chancellor for Administration at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, before Governor Rod Blagojevich appointed him to the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees in January 2004. He was later elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He resigned his position on the Board of Trustees in 2005 when he announced his candidacy for the presidency of the Southern Illinois University system.

President of Southern Illinois University

The Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees announced that they had selected Glenn Poshard to serve as President of the system on Friday, November 18, 2005. He took office on January 1, 2006.

After the announcement, Governor Rod Blagojevich praised the selection, stating that "[t]he Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees couldn't have made a better selection to the post of SIU President. Glenn Poshard's deep understanding of higher education in general, and the Southern Illinois University system in particular make him an outstanding choice to lead the institution. The SIU system is an important home of learning and progress in southern and southwestern Illinois, as well as an economic engine for the region. These institutions will continue to prosper in the capable and trustworthy hands of Glenn Poshard."

Similar praise was heard from leaders of the Illinois state legislature. Emil Jones, Jr., President of the Illinois Senate, noted that "[t]wenty one years ago a man sat down next to me in the Illinois Senate. At that time, we had little in common except our shared belief that a quality education meant equal opportunity for all. Southern Illinois University has chosen wisely in selecting my good friend Glenn Poshard."

Plagiarism Controversy

In August 2007, an anonymous watchdog group, "Alumni and Faculty Against Corruption at SIU", accused Poshard of plagiarism in his doctoral dissertation. Sixteen of the passages the group alleged to be plagiarism cited the correct source, but failed to use quotation marks or did not cite the correct page number. . Additionally, fourteen of the suspect passages contained neither quotation marks, nor citations of any kind. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, "no one on [Poshard's] dissertation committee told him that he had to use quotation marks." Poshard responded to the controversy by re-submitting his dissertation for review by the SIUC faculty, asking the faculty "to advise me on corrections necessary to make this dissertation consistent with the highest academic standards." On September 10, the Chronicle of Higher Education also reported apparent plagiarism in Poshard's Masters thesis, indicative of what it called "a cut-and-paste methodology."

Poshard claims, the public accusations of plagiarism arose after the anonymous group confronted him with its accusations and offered not to publicize their accusations if Poshard agreed to re-hire a former employee, Chris Dussold, who was fired from the faculty at SIUE for plagiarism and academic misconduct. Poshard claims, however, that he refused to agree to the group's demands.

Several public figures have supported Poshard throughout the controversy. Senator [Dick Durbin] issued a statement calling Poshard "an extraordinary person whose talents and integrity have made him 1 of the most effective university presidents I have ever worked with.". In an interview with a local television station, Williamson County Commissioner Brent Gentry stated "Glenn Poshard is such a man of integrity he's told them to look at anything you want to, look at it and you make the decision, how much more fair can you get? He will come out on top, there's no doubt in my mind."

Electoral history

• 1998 election for Governor
  • George Ryan (R), 51%
  • Glenn Poshard (D), 47%

External links

• Biography from Southern Illinois University