John Porter (Illinois politician)

John Edward Porter
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 10th district
In office January 22, 1980–January 3, 2001
Preceded by	Abner J. Mikva
Succeeded by	Mark Kirk
Personal details
Born	June 1, 1935 Evanston, Illinois
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Northwestern University University of Michigan Law School
Profession	Attorney

John Edward Porter (born June 1, 1935) is a former United States Representative from Illinois.

Porter was born in Evanston, Illinois, was educated in public schools, and then attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology for one year before receiving a B.S. and B.A. from Northwestern University in 1957. He then received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree with distinction at the University of Michigan Law School in 1961, and was admitted to the Illinois bar that same year. He also served in the United States Army Reserves from 1958 to 1964.

He served two years in the United States Department of Justice in the Honor Law Graduate Program from 1961 to 1963. He entered private practice in Evanston, Illinois from 1963 to 1979. During this time he entered politics; first by becoming a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979,^[1] then by running an unsuccessful first campaign for a seat in the Ninety-sixth United States Congress in 1978 against Representative Abner J. Mikva. When Mikva resigned from Congress in 1979, Porter won a special election to succeed him and continued to serve for the next ten Congresses. He was a Representative in total from January 22, 1980 to until his retirement on January 3, 2001.

A moderate Republican, he served as a founder and co-chair for the Congressional Human Rights Caucus for 18 years^[2] and oversaw budget appropriations for all federal health and education programs and agencies, including NIH, CDC and AHRQ.

Currently he is a partner of the law firm Hogan Lovells and serves as chairman of Research ! America, Vice Chair of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. He is a member of the Boards of the PBS Foundation and the First Focus Campaign for Children , and a trustee for the Brookings Institution. Porter is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the Bretton Woods Committee, the InterAmerican Dialogue and Council for Foreign Relations. Previously, he was Chairman of PBS and served on the boards of the RAND Corporation, the American Heart Association and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Involvement in science

In 2000, he was awarded The Mary Woodard Lasker Public Service Award "for wise and perceptive leadership on behalf of medical research funding and a deep commitment to strengthening the science enterprise." He has also received the Albert Sabin Hero of Science Award from Americans for Medical Progress for his consistent advocacy for medical research.

References

1. 'Illinois Blue Book 1977-1978, Biographical Sketch of Representatives John Edward Porter, pg. 69
2. "About the Committee". Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Retrieved 21 May 2011.

External links

• John Porter at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Lasker foundation essay