Sheatsley, Paul (1916-1989)

Paul B. Sheatsley was an early leader in the new field of survey research. He was born in New York City in 1916 and received a bachelor's degree from Princeton University in 1936. While following a career in journalism and public relations as editor of the Boonton Tribune in New Jersey (1937-1939) and public relations director for the Yankees' farm team, the Newark International Baseball Club (1939), Sheatsley started working as a part-time interviewer for George Gallup. Gallup then hired him to be field director of the Audience Research Institute (1940-1942). In early 1942, Harry Field, the founder of the recently organized National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Denver, approached his friend and former colleague, Gallup, and asked to "borrow" Sheatsley to ...