Dr. Donald E. Vinson
Chairman
Dr. Vinson is widely considered the "founding father" of jury and trial research, and is internationally recognized as the world's leading expert in the field. He has founded three successful companies in the industry, two of which were acquired by NYSE-listed corporations. Dr. Vinson has spent the last 35 years providing valuable insights and strategic recommendations to top trial attorneys and Fortune 500 companies about juror behavior, and his record of success is unparalleled. He has worked on hundreds of civil and criminal trials, including Pennzoil v. Texaco, USFL v. NFL, Oklahoma City bombing, the DuPont Plaza Hotel and MGM Grand Hotel fires, Dalkon Shield litigation, the O.J. Simpson murder trial, and the World Trade Center insurance case.
Dr. Vinson spent a number of years as a respected academic, serving on the faculty of the Anderson School of Management at UCLA and was Chairman of the Marketing Department at the USC Marshall School of Business from 1975 until 1980. In addition, he has been a professor of business at Louisiana State University, a Visiting Professor of Law at Tulane University, and a member of the faculty of the Salzburg Seminar in Salzburg, Austria, where he taught a course in International Jurisprudence with Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
Dr. Vinson was appointed to the Advisory Council, National Institutes of Health by President Bush and served as the United States Representative to the South Pacific Commission under both Presidents Bush and Clinton. In addition, Dr. Vinson was Chairman of the Board of the Institute for Legal Reform of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and was Commissioner of the California Commission on Judicial Performance. He has served on numerous other corporate, educational, and professional boards, including the UCLA Board of Visitors and the World Board of Governors of the United Service Organization.
Dr. Vinson has authored and contributed to 10 books and more than 50 articles on the subject of jury psychology and jury research techniques. He has been quoted or interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, Forbes, Time, The Economist, and has appeared on CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, CBS This Morning, Dateline NBC, ABC Evening News, CNN, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Nightline, Larry King Live, and The O'Reilly Factor.
Dr. Vinson holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology and Market Research from the University of Colorado; an M.S. in Market Research and Consumer Behavior from UCLA; and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Arizona.