Director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, USC

Dan Schnur is the Executive Director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California, where he works to motivate students to become involved in politics, government, and public service and teaches popular classes in politics, communications and leadership.In 2010, Dan was appointed Chairman of the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). In 2014, Dan ran for statewide office as a non-partisan candidate for California Secretary of State. Dan’s campaign focused on rebuilding the political center, the need for campaign fundraising reform, and increasing civics education in California schools. For years, Dan was one of California’s leading political and media strategists, whose record includes work on four presidential and three gubernatorial campaigns.  He served as the national Director of Communications for the 2000 presidential campaign of U.S. Senator John McCain and spent five years as chief media spokesman for California Governor Pete Wilson.

Dan’s commentaries are featured in local, state and national media including the Los Angeles Times, the Sacramento Bee, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. In addition, he has been an analyst and political commentator for CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and National Public Radio. Dan is a graduate of the American University in Washington, D.C.  He is married to Cecile Ablack, a communications and public affairs consultant, who is a former Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles, an Associate Dean at Yale University, and Director of International Communications and Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce.  They have two children, Rob and Tessa.