Alum establishes professorship

Francis Heller, Roy A. Roberts emeritus professor of law and political science, speaks with KU alumnus Sir Robert Worcester, a top British political commentator and market research pioneer who has committed $2 million to establish a professorship in political science, during the Korean War Memorial dedication April 16. Worcester cites Heller as the inspiration behind his success. Doug Koch/University Relations

Political commentator gives $2M for political science position

Top British political commentator and market research pioneer Sir Robert Worcester has committed $2 million to establish a distinguished professorship in the Department of Political Science.

The gift will endow the Sir Robert Worcester Distinguished Professorship in Public Opinion and Survey Research. A portion of the interest earned on the professorship fund will fund a salary stipend and may provide support for professional travel, graduate student researchers, public lectures, equipment or other materials for the faculty member awarded the professorship.

Worcester committed the gift to KU Endowment during KU First: Invest in Excellence, but the details of the professorship were only recently finalized.

Sir Robert, who graduated from Southwest High School in Kansas City, Mo., was on campus April 15 and 16 for the Class of 1955’s Golden Anniversary weekend.

Although he earned a bachelor’s degree in business at KU, he said his interests also included journalism classes and political science. In political science, he encountered Francis Heller, Roy A. Roberts professor of law and political science emeritus.

“ Until I was inspired by Heller and encouraged by my contemporaries in journalism, I thought I’d be just a businessman,” Sir Robert said. “I realized there’s more to life than making money.”

He moved to Britain in 1969. There he founded Market & Opinion Research International, best known for public opinion polling, though it specializes in sociocultural and demographic trends. Sir Robert, who has dual citizenship in the United States and Britain, was recently named a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.