Bruce Chapman (born 1934) is the director and founder of the American conservative thinktank, the Discovery Institute, which has links to the religious right. He was previous a journalist, a Republican Party politician and a diplomat.

Biography

Chapman was born in 1934 in Evanston Illinois. In 1962 he graduated from Harvard University. Between then an 1966 he was an editorial writer for the New York Herald Tribune. In 1966 Chapman moved to Seattle and wrote a book entitled The Wrong Man in Uniform, arguing against conscription.

Chapman then became a politician, a member of the United States Republican Party. He was elected to the Seattle City Council in 1971. In 1975 he was first appointed and then elected Secretary of State for the state of Washington. He ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Washington in 1980, John Spellman being chosen as the Republican Party's candidate and winning the election.

Chapman was Director of the United States Census Bureau between 1981 and 1983. Between 1983 to 1985 he was Deputy Assistant to US President Ronald Reagan and Director of the White House Office of Planning and Evaluation . From 1985 to 1988 he was appointed United States Ambassador to the United Nations Organizations in Vienna. His portfolio included nuclear proliferation, refugees, economic development, and the control of narcotics.

From 1988 to 1990 Chapman was a fellow of the thinktank Hudson Institute, but in 1990 founded the Discovery Institute. The DI focuses on a range of issues, some associated with the religious right, particularly its stance on intelligent design. Chapman himself is a Roman Catholic.

External links

• Discovery Institute biography
  • Discovery Institute articles by Chapman
• Articles on Secretaries of State for Washington