Dr. Dan Cassino, professor of Government and Politics at Fairleigh Dickinson University, has been appointed Executive Director of FDU Poll. Cassino has served as FDU Poll’s Director of Experimental Research since 2009 and led some of the Poll’s most widely reported research, including a study showing that people who read no news at all were no better or worse informed than those whose primary source of news is 24-hour cable channels such as Fox and MSNBC.

“Dan is an outstanding researcher, writer, and personality,” said Peter Woolley, the Poll’s founder in 2001 and now the Founding Director of FDU’s School of Public and Global Affairs which houses the Poll. “In this era when accurate polling demands mathematical whizzes and new designs, Dan will be a leader.”

Cassino’s specialty is political psychology. He has published books and research articles on political communication, political cognition, and the socio-political consequences of men’s gender identities in both academia and the popular press. He appears regularly on television broadcasts about politics in the New York area, and internationally. He is frequently quoted in major national newspapers.

“Traditional polling is facing enormous challenges, and we have to be ready to innovate, using new techniques and new data sources if we want to stay relevant,” said Cassino. “The University has been incredibly supportive, and I’m excited to be part of a push to move survey research forward.”

Congratulations to FDU Poll’s current Executive Director, Dr. Krista Jenkins who has been named Senior Officer for Surveys at the Pew Charitable Trusts. Jenkins took over direction of the FDU Poll in 2012 and repeatedly achieved high marks from FiveThirtyEight.com pollster ratings.