Mark Chapin Johnson will head the newly formed Institute for the Study of Media and the Public Interest

ORANGE, Calif., May 11, 2004 – Mark Chapin Johnson, President and CEO of Chapin Medical Company of Corona, Calif., has been named Chairman of the Executive Team (E-Team) of the newly formed Institute for the Study of Media and the Public Interest at Chapman University.

The Institute was founded based on an idea proposed by Larry Dodge, naming donor of the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman. The Institute will invite scholars and community leaders to participate in seminars, panels and conferences dealing with the impact of media on society and public policy.

Johnson will coordinate the search for an Executive Director to manage the day-to-day activities of the Institute and work with the E-Team to identify yearly themes that the Institute’s programs will address.

“Mark is a superb choice for this position because of his keen interest in public affairs and the life of our community,” says Bob Bassett, dean of the Dodge College. “Not only does he know how to attract high level leaders and thinkers to programs in which he is involved, but his constant activity in the life of Orange County will enable him to serve as an excellent bridge between the university and the community in setting up the Institute’s programs.”

The Institute is charged with bringing scholars from around the world to lead discussion and examination of timely and critically important media-related issues, such as intellectual property rights or the impact of the Internet on politics.

“The involvement of leading scholars at Chapman will not only advance knowledge about these issues but also make the intellectual life of Chapman and the Dodge College even more exciting and meaningful,” says University President James L. Doti. “We want this Institute to create a real dialogue in the community about how the media impacts our lives. We are not interested in just publishing another obscure journal that nobody reads.”

The Institute’s Executive Team consists of Larry Dodge, Chairman and CEO of American Sterling Corp.; Paul Folino, Chairman and CEO of Emulex and Dodge College Campaign Chair; Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of the President, a foreign policy expert, and President and CEO of the Eisenhower Institute; Chapman University President Doti, and Dodge College Dean Bassett. Pete Weitzner, a professor of broadcast journalism in the School of Film and Television in the Dodge College, will serve as faculty liaison to the group.

Johnson founded Chapin Medical, a leading national biotechnology pharmaceutical sales, marketing, and distribution company in 1974. He is also the principal partner and owner of a real estate investment and management partnership that has developed various commercial and residential projects in the West.

Active in community affairs, Johnson has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, as a member of the boards of South Coast Repertory Theater and the YMCA of Orange County, and as a trustee of Olive Crest Treatment Centers and Boys Hope/Girls Hope. He is also President of the Mark Chapin Johnson Foundation. In addition, he is currently taking classes to complete his upper division education at Chapman University.

###