Robert J. Blendon

Robert J. Blendon is Richard L. Menschel Professor of Public Health and Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis, Emeritus. He directs the Harvard Opinion Research Program, which focuses on the better understanding of public knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about health and other major domestic public policy issues. He also co-directs a joint polling project with NPR and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He has co-directed joint polling projects with Washington Post, NPR, Boston Globe and USA Today. He has received the Warren J. Mitofsky Award for excellence in public opinion research. He teaches a course on U.S. health politics at the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Prior to his Harvard appointment, he was senior vice-president at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In addition, he has served as a senior consultant for the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Governors’ Association, and the U.S. Congress Committee on Ways and Means. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a doctoral degree in health policy from the School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.