Milestones, People, Politics & society

Mark DiCamillo named director of expanded Berkeley IGS Poll

By Kathleen Maclay

Veteran California pollster Mark DiCamillo is joining UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies as director of its Berkeley IGS Poll, the institute announced today.

DiCamillo will bring to IGS decades of experience in polling Californians. He has been actively involved in measuring California public opinion since 1978, when he joined Field Research Corporation, founded by legendary pollster Mervin Field.

In 1993 DiCamillo succeeded Field as director of the highly respected Field Poll, and served in that capacity through 2016. He is a recognized authority on opinion trends in California, and is the author or co-author of more than 1,000 poll reports.  IGS scholars have worked with DiCamillo in designing several joint polls.

“The IGS Poll is a significant research tool for examining and studying California public opinion,” said Jack Citrin, institute director and UC Berkeley’s Heller Professor of Political Science. “Mark has long been recognized as one of the state’s leading pollsters, and bringing him to the institute will enable our polling program to continue to grow, advancing our mission for both cutting-edge research and public education.”

Likely topics for polling include candidate races, leading ballot measures, and important issues facing California.

Mark DiCamillo is the new director of the Berkeley IGS Poll.

“I’m thrilled to be joining IGS to further my professional interests in charting the ever-changing and endlessly fascinating dynamics of California public opinion,” DiCamillo said. “There is no better place for me to do this than at IGS, known throughout the nation as one of California’s leading public policy research centers. In addition, I’m honored to be able to work alongside Jack, who is one of the country’s leading opinion researchers, and to have the opportunity to interact and collaborate with the many other esteemed scholars at UC Berkeley, one of the world’s greatest universities.”

Since its launch in 2011, the IGS Poll has conducted one survey a year on important issues facing California, including immigration, political identity, state taxes and finance, and ballot initiatives.

Under DiCamillo’s leadership, the poll’s operations will be renamed the Berkeley IGS Poll and will be expanded significantly. Up to four large-scale statewide polls are planned in 2017.

In addition to generating data for ongoing academic research and publication, the polls are intended to produce more than 25 separate poll reports on a wide range of political, social and public policy issues facing California for distribution to the news media and the general public. These reports will include polling results on leading candidate campaigns and ballot measures, a mainstay of DiCamillo’s expertise.

IGS is the oldest organized research unit in the University of California system, and the oldest public policy research center in the state. A component of the UC system’s flagship Berkeley campus, IGS pursues a vigorous program of research, education, publication and public service.

Since joining the UC Berkeley faculty in1969, Citrin has served as director of the State Data Program, acting director of the Survey Research Center, faculty athletics representative to the National Collegiate Athletic Association and faculty director of the Berkeley Washington Program.

His many writings include Tax Revolt: Something for Nothing in California; California and the American Tax Revolt; Public Opinion and Constitutional Controversy; and American Identity and the Politics of Multiculturalism . Citrin has also written frequently on trust in government, the initiative process in California, immigration and language politics, and the future of national identity in the United States and Europe.

DiCamillo is a cum laude graduate of Harvard University and earned an MBA at Cornell University’s Johnson School of Business.