Experts on the Olympics at the University of Chicago
October 1, 2020
On Friday, Oct. 2, the International Olympic Committee will decide which city will host the 2016 Olympic Games. Faculty experts at the University of Chicago are available to discuss various aspects of Chicago’s bid and how winning the games might affect Chicago. Please call William Harms, Associate News Director, at 773-702-8356 to speak to the experts below or if you need expertise on other topics related to the Games.
The voting procedure
John Mark Hansen is a political scientist, has studied the voting procedures for selecting the host city and can discuss the selection process. The approximately 100 delegates in the International Olympic Committee are divided into five equal-sized factions and can rank cities in a wide variety of ways. There is much strategy throughout the selection process, as each round of voting eliminates a contender. Hansen is Dean of the Division of Social Sciences and the Charles L. Hutchins Distinguished Service Professor in Political Science at the University.
The economics of the Games
Allen Sanderson is an economist who has studied Olympic financing and analyzed the costs of holding an Olympics in Chicago. Although the Olympics would be a festive event, he has doubts about some of the economic projections that backers of the local event have used and contends the Chicago games may cost much more than has been currently projected. Sanderson is Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University.
Ted Snyder, Dean of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, wrote about the economic impact of the Olympics in an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune. He contends that good return on the investment depends on continued vigilance during the planning stages, should Chicago be selected.
The history and culture of the Games
John MacAloon, an expert on the culture and history of the Olympics, is also a member of the Chicago’s Bid Team and is with the Chicago delegation in Copenhagen. He has written extensively on the Olympics, including This Great Symbol: Pierre De Coubertin and the Origins of the Modern Olympic Games (2007). MacAloon also organized a conference in 2008 in Chicago to help local arts organizations understand how cultural activities are part of the Olympic movement. MacAloon is Professor in the Social Sciences Collegiate Division of the University of Chicago.