'Des Moines Register' Columnist to Head Public Policy Institute in Illinois

Posted Wednesday, February 4, 2009 12:00 am

By: A longtime Des Moines Register political columnist is the new head of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University's campus in Carbondale.

Fifty-8-year-old David Yepsen was introduced Wednesday as the successor to Mike Lawrence, who retired last year from the institute named for the late U.S. senator from Illinois.

Yepsen had been at the Register since 1973. He became the senior political writer in 1983 and since 2000 has been its senior political columnist.

He's also been a host on Iowa Public Television's "Iowa Press" since 1975 and a frequent commentator on national news programs.

Register editor and vice president Carolyn Washburn says the newspaper will miss the veteran political writer.

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'Des Moines Register' Columnist to Head Public Policy Institute in Illinois

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