George H. Gallup Jr. ’53

One of our best-known members, George, son of the Gallup Poll founder, who with his brother, Alec M. ’50, succeeded their father as principals of the famous public-opinion research firm, died Nov. 21, 2011, in Princeton. He was 81 and had liver cancer.

At Princeton, George majored in religion, which was an important part of his life, played soccer for four years and baseball for three. He and his senior-year roommate, John Nachtrieb, dined at Cottage. Earlier dorm-sharers were Jim Laughlin ’52 and Tom Moore ’52. George belonged to the Right Wing Club, not a political organization but a good-fellowship group established in 1894, which consisted of 16 seniors and was headed by Mike Donohue.

After graduation, George served briefly in the ministry in Texas but returned to become Gallup’s editor, managing editor, and director. He married Kingsley Hubby in 1959. In 1977 he founded the Princeton Religion Research Center, followed by the George H. Gallup International Institute.

George was predeceased by his wife. He is survived by his daughters, Alison and Kingsley; son George; sister Julia Laughlin; and two grandchildren. Daughter Kingsley described her dad as “an unusual guy, the warmest, most approachable person you ever met,” and added, “He has left an incredible legacy of ethics.”