Steve Farkas is president of Farkas Duffett Research (FDR) Group. Prior to co-founding the FDR Group, Farkas was Research Director at Public Agenda from 1992 to 2004. Originally planning a career in political consulting, he began with a short stint as a Senior Research Analyst at Penn & Schoen, Inc., in 1990.
Farkas is the principal author of over a hundred major opinion studies on a range of issues from public education, families, poverty and immigration, to social security, crime and foreign policy. His expertise lies in crafting original questionnaires, employing advanced statistical techniques and moderating focus groups. On education alone, he has conducted over 150 focus group discussions with teachers, students, parents and administrators. He has appeared dozens of times in interviews including on CNN, NPR, CBS and ABC.
He earned his B.A. from New York University, and his M.A. and M. Phil. from Columbia University�s Department of Political Science. Mr. Farkas has been the recipient of President’s and MacArthur Fellowships. He is currently writing his dissertation on religious faith and tolerance.