Michael Cornfield
Michael Cornfield, a political scientist, is a Senior Fellow at The George Washington University Center for Excellence in Public Leadership. He specializes in rhetorical analysis of presidential speeches, campaigns, and debates.
His current work includes crafting and executing “simulated summits,” half-day table-top exercises that enhance the political narrating and negotiating capabilities of students and mid-level government and corporate office-holders. A 2022 Critical Issues grant from the American Political Science Association underwrote development of summits about climate change policymaking involving Mexico and the United States.
Previously Cornfield was Research Director and Associate Professor at the GWU Graduate School of Political Management. He taught the introductory and capstone course to students in the program, which certifies mastery in election, advocacy, and public education campaigns. Cornfield created and ran the PEORIA (Public Echoes of Rhetoric in America) Project, a research initiative that developed qualitative and quantitative methods to extract strategic intelligence from social media data.
Cornfield is the author of two books: Politics Moves Online: Campaigning and the Internet (The Century Foundation, 2004) and The Civic Web: Online Politics and Democratic Values, co-edited with David M. Anderson (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003). He has contributed chapters to numerous academic anthologies and journals. His research into the origins of and public reactions to President Trump’s “Fake News!” propaganda campaign appeared in An Anatomy of Fake News (LSU Press, 2018).
He has written monthly columns for Campaigns & Elections magazine and the marketing news portal MediaPost, reviewed political books for The Guardian, and posted more than 100 “Rhetorical Recaps” on the gspm.gwu.edu website and at prorhetoric.com, the website of the American Speechwriters Association.
Cornfield comments on American politics frequently in the news media, especially overseas outlets seeking adept summaries for international audiences. He served as expert presenter for the BBC World Service radio network during the 2012, 2014, and 2016 US election nights.
Cornfield serves on the Information Technology Advisory Commission to the Arlington VA County Board of Supervisors, and as academic adviser to the International Association of Political Consultants, Cornfield received his B.A. from Pomona College and his Ph.D. from Harvard University. Before coming to The George Washington University, he taught at the University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary. Cornfield also served as a Senior Research Consultant to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. He lives with his wife Kathryn Mimberg in Arlington, Virginia.
Rhetorical analysis of speeches and debates of importance to the American civic discourse; crafting and executing of half-day table top exercises in public narrating and private negotiating; studying the integration of new media forms into advocacy, election, and crisis campaigning.
Politics Moves Online (Century Foundation Press, 2004); Anatomy of Fake News (contributor) (LSU Press 2018); rhetorical recaps of vital speeches at prorhetoric.com, the website of the Professional Speechwriters Association.
Pomona College, B.A. 1975; Harvard University, M.A. and Ph.D., 1989.
Narrating and negotiating well are essential skills for excellence in public leadership.
I serve on the Information Technology Advisory Commission for Arlington County VA and as academic advisor to the International Association of Politics Consultants. I am addicted to crossword puzzles, long-form suspense series, and the LA Dodgers and Lakers.