Glenn Poshard | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President ofSouthern Illinois University | |
| In office January 1, 2006 – May 1, 2014 | |
| Preceded by | James Walker |
| Succeeded by | Randy Dunn |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromIllinois | |
| In office January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1999 | |
| Preceded by | Kenneth Gray |
| Succeeded by | David Phelps |
| Constituency | 22nd district (1989–1993) 19th district (1993–1999) |
| Member of theIllinois Senate from the 59th district | |
| In office August 27, 1984 – January 3, 1989 | |
| Preceded by | Gene Johns |
| Succeeded by | Jim Rea |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Glendal William Poshard (1945-10-30)October 30, 1945 (age 80) Herald, Illinois, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Jo |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (BS,MS,PhD) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1962–1965 |
| Unit | 1st Cavalry Division |
Glendal William Poshard (born October 30, 1945) is an American educator and former politician who served as anIllinois State Senator andU.S. Congressman, serving five terms inCongress from 1989 to 1999.
He was also an Illinois gubernatorial candidate, and president of theSouthern Illinois University system.
Poshard was born October 30, 1945, inHerald, Illinois. He served inSouth Korea with the1st Cavalry Division of theUnited States Army. Poshard is a three-degree graduate ofSouthern Illinois University. He received 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.[1] After graduating from college, he taught high school, coached high school sports, and served as director of the Southern Illinois Educational Service Center inBenton, Illinois from 1975 to 1984.[2]
In the 1982 Democratic primary, Poshard challenged incumbent State SenatorGene Johns, but lost. After Johns' death two years later, local Democratic leaders appointed Poshard to the vacancy. Eve Johns, Johns' widow and an unsuccessful candidate for the appointment, opted to run as an independent.[3] As no candidate ran in for the Republican nomination in the 1984 primary, local Republican leaders nominated State RepresentativeRobert Winchester.[4] In the 1984 general election, Poshard was victorious winning 47,230 votes to Winchester's 39,173 votes and Johns' 5,862 votes.[5] In the 1986 general election, Poshard was reelected by a commanding margin against Republican candidate Richard Simmons ofMarion.[6]
Poshard served in theIllinois State Senate from August 1984 to January 1989. Poshard resigned from the Illinois Senate on January 2, 1989 to take his seat in Congress. Local Democratic leaders chose State RepresentativeJim Rea from a field of fourteen applicants.[7][8]
Poshard ran for U.S. Representative from Illinois' 22nd Congressional District and was elected in 1988. After Illinois lost a district as a result of the 1990 Census, Poshard's district was merged with the neighboring 19th District of fellow Democratic CongressmanTerry L. Bruce. The new district contained 40% of Bruce's constituents from the old 19th and 30% of Poshard's constituents from the old 22nd. Poshard was able to win large majorities in the far southern part of the district and subsequently Poshard won the Democratic primary with approximately 62% of the vote.[9] During the primary, Poshard was outspent $800,000 to $200,000.[10] Poshard was reelected to another three terms.
As Congressman, he was considered to be asocial conservative and fiscal progressivepopulist; he was opposed toabortion,gay marriage, and thedeath penalty largely on religious grounds, and opposedfree trade agreements. The National Taxpayers Union ranked him 13th of 256 Democrats in the103rd Congress.[11] He was also a strong proponent ofcampaign finance reform. He sponsored the Illinois Wilderness Act of 1990[1]Archived 2021-07-30 at theWayback Machine, which created theGarden of the Gods Wilderness, and he cosponsored theTransportation Equity Act for the 21st Century[2]Archived 2021-07-30 at theWayback Machine and theCredit Union Membership Access Act.[3]Archived 2021-07-30 at theWayback Machine He voted against theFlag Desecration Amendment.[11]
While in Congress, he twice earned a place onRoll Call's Obscure Caucus list and earned a reputation as prioritizing his district's needs over national media.[10]
After he left Congress, Poshard and his wife Jo founded thePoshard Foundation for Abused Children,[12] 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 inCairo, Illinois that opened in December 2003.[13]
In 1998 Poshard ran for governor againstRepublican Secretary of StateGeorge Ryan. He was somewhat more conservative on social issues than Ryan, a moderate Republican. While this garnered him support from social conservatives who normally voted Republican, it also cost him some support from Chicago liberals.
In keeping with his views on campaign financing, Poshard severely curtailed contributions to his campaign. He refused to accept any corporate or special interest group donations and limited private donations to a small amount per individual. He thus faced a significant financial disadvantage in the campaign against Ryan and was outspent by a roughly 4 to 1 margin.
Poshard was first to alert the public about Ryan's connection to the "licenses for bribes" scandal and other corruption. Some individuals, even prominent Democrats like former SenatorPaul Simon, criticized Poshard for his attacks on Ryan's corruption. However, Poshard was vindicated to a considerable extent 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."
On February 10, 2004, GovernorRod Blagojevich appointed Poshard to theSouthern Illinois University Board of Trustees for a term commencing January 23, 2004 and ending January 17, 2005. Poshard was confirmed by theIllinois Senate on February 26, 2004.[14] That same year, on November 16, 2004, Governor Rod Blagojevich appointed Poshard to serve as the Chair of the Health Facilities Planning Board for a term ending July 1, 2007.[15] Poshard resigned from the Health Facilities Planning Board after becoming the President of Southern Illinois University.[16] In 2004, he also served as the unpaid, interim general manager of the Rend Lake Conservancy District, which supplies water to more than 60 southern Illinois towns.[17]
At the conclusion of the one-year term, Governor Blagojevich appointed Poshard to a six year term on the SIU Board of Trustees.[18][19] Poshard was later elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees.[20] He resigned his position on the board of trustees in 2005 when he announced his candidacy for the presidency of theSouthern Illinois University system.[21]
In the 2022 Democratic primary, Poshard was elected unopposed to the position of Democratic State Central Committeeman forIllinois's 12th congressional district. He serves as one of the district's two representatives to theDemocratic Party of Illinois alongside Central Committeewoman Vivian Robinson.[22]
In 1999, Poshard was hired bySouthern Illinois University Carbondale to serve as the Vice Chancellor of Administration.[23] He would serve in the position until his appointment to the SIU Board of Trustees.
In 2005, Poshard put his name forward for consideration to become the President of the Southern Illinois University system.[21] On November 14, 2005, the SIU Board of Trustees passed a resolution authorizing a contract to be signed between the SIU system and Poshard. The next month, at their December 8, 2005 meeting, a resolution approving the contract was passed.[24] He took office on January 1, 2006. Poshard was accused of plagiarism in 2007 after it was revealed that portions of his doctoral dissertation were lifted from another source without attribution.[25] The faculty senate at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville asked Poshard to step down as president. Poshard was later acquitted of plagiarism charges after a university committee he appointed called it "inadvertent plagiarism".[26] He retired after the 2013-14 school year. On October 7, 2022,SIU Carbondale's Transportation Education Center atSouthern Illinois Airport was named the Glenn Poshard Transportation Education Center in recognition of Poshard's leadership at the SIU system.[27]
In 2016, Poshard was appointed to theJohn A. Logan College Board of Trustees following the death of Trustee Bill Alstat. He was elected to the position in 2017 and re-elected in 2021.[28][29]
Morthland College's board of trustees voted unanimously to hire Poshard as the president ofMorthland College effective February 13, 2017.[30]After two months in the position, citing serious issues with the college's finances and personnel that had not been disclosed during the hiring process, Poshard resigned from the position effective April 26, 2017.[31] An investigation by theUnited States Department of Education of financial mismanagement by the college, started in January 2017 prior to Poshard's hiring, resulted in its closure in 2018.[32][33]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | George Ryan /Corinne Wood | 1,714,094 | 51.03% | −12.85% | |
| Democratic | Glenn Poshard / Mary Lou Kearns | 1,594,191 | 47.46% | +13.02% | |
| Reform | Lawrence Redmond / Phyllis Nirchi | 50,372 | 1.50% | ||
| Write-ins | 48 | 0.00% | |||
| Majority | 119,903 | 3.57% | −25.87% | ||
| Turnout | 3,358,705 | 49.72% | |||
| Republicanhold | Swing | ||||
| District | Incumbent | This race | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Representative | Party | Election | Results | Candidates | |
| Illinois 19 | Glenn Poshard | Democratic | 1996 | Incumbent re-elected. |
|
| Illinois 19 | Glenn Poshard | Democratic | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. |
|
| Illinois 19 | Glenn Poshard Redistricted from the22nd district | Democratic | 1992 | Incumbent re-elected. |
|
| Terry L. Bruce | Democratic | Redistricting contest Democratic loss. | |||
| Illinois 22 | Glenn Poshard | Democratic | 1990 | Incumbent re-elected. |
|
| Illinois 22 | Kenneth J. Gray | Democratic | 1988 | Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic hold. |
|
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromIllinois's 22nd congressional district 1989–1993 | Constituency abolished |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromIllinois's 19th congressional district 1993–1999 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Illinois 1998 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
