John Shaw
Paul Simon Institute DirectorJohn T. Shaw joined the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute as director in January 2018. He established the Institute’s “Better Politics, Smarter Government” agenda with its Restoring American Statesmanship, Renewing Illinois, and Understanding Our New World programs.
Shaw was born and raised in Peoria, Illinois. He received his bachelor's degree in Political Science from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois and his master's in History from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. He began his career as a Governors Fellow in Springfield, Illinois, worked in state government, and later participated in a training program with the European Union in Brussels before moving into journalism with a position at the Wall Street Journal Europe.
Shaw worked as a reporter in Washington, DC for more than twenty-five years, covering Congress for Market News International, a global financial wire service, and the diplomatic community for the Washington Diplomat, a monthly magazine.
Shaw is the author of five books: Rising Star, Setting Sun: Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and the Presidential Transition that Changed America (2018); JFK in the Senate: Pathway to the Presidency (2013); Richard G. Lugar, Statesman of the Senate (2012); The Ambassador: Inside the Life of a Working Diplomat (2006); and Washington Diplomacy: Profiles of People of World Influence (2002).
Shaw has been a guest on the PBS NewsHour and C-SPAN, contributed to a weekly segment on Congress for KPCC public radio in Los Angeles for many years, and was a media fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He has published articles in the Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Boston Globe, The American Interest, and other publications.
He serves on the Board of Directors of Forefront, an association representing Illinois grantmakers and nonprofits, and is a member of Hall of Fame of Historic Illinoisans Committee of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois. He has taught classes at SIU on the U.S. Congress and American Statesmanship.
Shaw and his wife, Mindy, live in Carbondale, Illinois.
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Reverend Susan Hayward discusses religious literacy in international affairs and her research on women and peace-building. This was recorded in January 2023 -
Dick Simpson discusses his books "Democracy's Rebirth: The View From Chicago" and "Chicago's Modern Mayors: From Harold Washington to Lori Lightfoot" with Institute Director John Shaw. -
On this edition of Simoncast, Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld discusses her path-breaking work on the intersection of democracy and security. -
This time on Simoncast, Eliot Cohen discusses his new book, "The Hollow Crown: Shakespeare on How Leaders Rise, Rule, and Fall," with Institute director John Shaw. -
Historian Drew Gilpin Faust discusses her new memoir, "Necessary Trouble: Growing up at Midcentury," with Paul Simon Public Policy Institute Director John Shaw. -
Miles Rapoport, Executive Director of 100% Democracy, discusses a plan to revitalize American democracy with Institute Director John Shaw on Simoncast. -
On this edition of Simoncast, Liz Alderman and Institute Director John Shaw discuss the political, economic, and social turmoil cascading across Europe. -
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Simoncast host John Shaw of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute speaks with the Executive Director of Foreign Affairs, Daniel Kurtz-Phelan. -
Author Ira Shapiro discusses his books “The Last Great Senate: Courage and Statesmanship in Times of Crisis,” “Broken: Can the Senate Save Itself and the Country?” and “The Betrayal: How Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans Abandoned America.”
