UIS names new director of Survey Research Office

The University of Illinois Springfield has named Juan Carlos Donoso the new director of the Survey Research Office in the Center for State Policy and Leadership. He comes to UIS from the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C.

As director of the office, Donoso will lead many important community surveys, such as the Sangamon County Economic Outlook Survey, in partnership with The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, and the biennial Sangamon County Citizen Survey, which gauges resident’s opinions on a variety of topics.

At the Pew Research Center, he worked as a research associate in the Religion and Public Life Project. Prior to that appointment, he was a professor of political science and international relations at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Quito, Ecuador. He is considered an expert in comparative politics in Latin America, with an emphasis on public opinion research, democracy and judicial politics.

While in Ecuador, he co-founded PRIME Consulting, a social science and survey research firm, and worked as National Research Director for the National Electoral Council of Ecuador.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the Universidad San Francisco de Quito and a master’s and doctorate degree in political science from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Donoso takes over for Ashley Kirzinger, former director of the UIS Survey Research Office, who left the university in 2015.