MAPOR’s history spans over 50 years of public opinion scholarship. Today, MAPOR continues to convene university and college faculty members, professional practitioners, governmental researchers, and graduate students over the shared study of public opinion.
MAPOR Through the Years
1967 – Interest was expressed to the national council of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) to establish a local chapter.
1975 – In February, 12 individuals attended a meeting to plan for a Midwest AAPOR chapter in the Chicago area. In June, an organizing meeting for this chapter was held at the AAPOR annual conference in Itasca, Illinois. On October 24 and 25, MAPOR’s first annual meeting was held at the O’Hare Inn in Chicago, Illinois with about 50 attendees. Founding members included George Bishop, Donna S. Charron, William D. Wells, John Coulson, Eva Sideman, Eugene Tesler, Marijean Suelze, Sidney Kraus, and Arlene Ruksza.
1976 – The organization’s first bylaws were adopted and the first official election of officers occurred at the November annual meeting at the Ramada O’Hare Inn. The conference had 88 attendees.
1977-1980 – Annual meeting was held at the Sheraton Plaza hotel, each with about 100 attendees. By 1979, paid memberships reached 130.
1981 – In late October, the annual meeting was held at Loyola University in conjunction with the Illinois Political Science Association.
1982-1987 – Annual meeting returned to the Sheraton Plaza hotel.
1988 – Annual meeting was held at the Chicago Knickerbocker hotel in late November, which was favored over late October by members who did election polling. David Axelrod, who would later become one of Barack Obama’s chief strategists for his 2008 presidential run, attends as a presenter.
1989-1990 – Annual meeting convened at The Drake.
1991-1993 – Annual meeting returned to the Sheraton Plaza.
1994-2008 – Annual meeting was held at the Radisson Hotel & Suites. By 2008, authorships per year grew to 250.
2009-2013 – Annual meeting was held at the Avenue Crowne Plaza Hotel.
2014 – Annual meeting moved to the Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel.
2015-2019 – MAPOR celebrated its 40th anniversary meeting at the Embassy Suites Downtown Chicago in 2015, where it continued to hold the annual conference for the next several years.
2020 – Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MAPOR held its annual meeting in an entirely virtual format.
2021-2024 – MAPOR returned to the Embassy Suites Downtown for its annual meeting in 2021, which continued to serve as the conference home. Across these conference years, 312 papers, posters, and panels were presented.
2025 – MAPOR celebrated its 50th year at the annual meeting held at Embassy Suites Downtown.
