Ward Elliott (August 6, 1937 – December 6, 2022) was an American political scientist who was the Burnet C. Wohlford Professor of American Political Institutions at
Claremont McKenna College
Claremont McKenna College (CMC) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It has a curricular emphasis on government, economics, public affairs, finance, and international relations. CMC is a member of the Claremont Colleges c ...
(CMC) in California.
[Ward Elliott's home page at Claremont McKenna College](_blank)
/ref> Elliot had been a professor at CMC since 1968.
Education
Elliott held a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
(1959), Master's Degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. and Doctorate of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
(1968) from Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
and a law degree
A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...
(1964) from the University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
.
Work
Elliott criticized the US Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...
's record on voting reforms in his 1974 book, ''The Rise of Guardian Democracy'', and argued that reform should be initiated by citizens by democratic processes and not imposed from above by elites.
He researched market solutions to the smog
Smog, or smoke fog, is a type of intense air pollution. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words '' smoke'' and ''fog'' to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odor. The word was then int ...
problem in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
. He was president of the ''California Coalition for Clean Air'' from 1980 to 1986. Elliott drafted the economic incentives of the ''Clean Air Act Amendments'' of 1990. After his efforts, the number of first-stage smog-alert days declined from one day in three in the 1960s to only one day in 1997.
Elliott founded and led the Claremont Shakespeare Clinic from 1987 to 1994. It used computers to analyze William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's writings and published several papers on his and the clinic's findings. His research addressed the Shakespeare authorship question
Image:ShakespeareCandidates1.jpg, alt=Portraits of Shakespeare and four proposed alternative authors, Oxford, Bacon, Derby, and Marlowe (clockwise from top left, Shakespeare centre) have each been proposed as the true author.
poly 1 1 105 1 1 ...
, and his results led him to dismiss the claims of 37 alternative authors of the Shakespeare canon and to reject the authenticity of over 30 poems and plays of the Shakespeare Apocrypha.
Awards
*Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, 1973
References
External links
Elliott's CMC faculty page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Ward
1937 births
2022 deaths
American political scientists
Harvard University alumni
University of Virginia School of Law alumni
Claremont McKenna College faculty