The Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency at Hofstra University was established in 2006 through a generous grant from Hofstra trustee and alumnus Peter S. Kalikow.
Mr. Kalikow's gift also established the Peter S. Kalikow Chair in Presidential Studies. On Nov. 15, 2006, Meena Bose, Ph.D., was installed as the first endowed chair in presidential studies. Dr. Bose, who had previously been director of American Politics at the United States Military Academy at West Point, had previously taught at Hofstra from 1996-2000.
Together with Hofstra's conferences on the American presidency, the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency and the Peter S. Kalikow Chair in Presidential Studies make Hofstra one of the very few institutions in the country with a unique focus on the presidency. Established in 2006 following Hofstra’s 11th Presidential Conference on the presidency of William Jefferson Clinton, the Center's activities include:
- Promoting a program of continuing research on important issues relating to the American presidency
- Holding annual conferences and symposia devoted to analyzing critical issues regarding the American presidency by bringing together, from around the nation and the world, leading scholars, political practitioners, and journalists
- Sponsoring a lecture series bringing to Hofstra the most distinguished scholars on the American presidency.
The Kalikow Center was a major participant in Educate ’08: Dialogue, Democracy and the ’08 Debates, an educational effort that engaged not only students and faculty but also the public in a year-long series of conferences, events and lectures about the 2008 election, politics and presidential history, all leading up to the October 15, 2008 presidential debate at Hofstra.
In 2009, the Center was a participant in Define '09: New Challenges, New Solutions, a year-long series of programs designed to examine the new presidential administration, its policies and initiatives, the challenges we currently face and ways of addressing our country's most pressing issues.
Hofstra has held 12 presidential conferences on every president from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to George W. Bush. These symposia, presented by the Hofstra Cultural Center, have been viewed by scholars as the first draft of history for these administrations. Four former presidents - Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and, in November 2005, Bill Clinton attended the Hofstra conferences on their administrations.
For more information on the Kalikow Center and its programs, call (516) 463-5616 or e-mail Dr. Meena Bose.