The Center was established in 1972 with funding from the late
Nelson
Poynter. An alumnus of Indiana University, Mr. Poynter
was the chairman of the board of the Times Publishing
Company, which publishes the St. Petersburg Times
and Congressional Quarterly.
Mr. Poynter's initial five-year gift was prompted by his
concern about declining trust in public institutions. In
1976, Mr. Poynter presented the university with a second
substantial gift, which endowed the Center and established it
in perpetuity. The Center's work is supported by income
from the endowment, funding from Indiana University, and
contracts and grants from public and private agencies and
foundations.
The founding director was William Lee Miller, who served from
1972-1982. David H. Smith served as director from 1982 until
his retirement in 2003, when Richard B. Miller became
director.
The Poynter Center directs it attention to the entire
spectrum of American political and social institutions,
drawing on the fullest resources of the university to carry out its work. The center's projects take a
normative perspective. In recent years, the Poynter Center has focused on
bioethics; professional ethics; religion, culture, and society; political ethics; research ethics, and teaching ethics in the sciences and humanities.
For information about some of our concluded projects, see the
links below.
For information about our programs by year, see below.
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