Gallup '50, former chair of Gallup Poll, dies at 81

Alec Gallup '50, who chaired the prestigious Gallup Poll organization started by his father in 1935, died of a heart condition on June 22 at his Princeton home. He was 81.

The late pollster is credited with being the first person to reference Republican and Democratic states as "red" and "blue." Talk about leaving a legacy.

The Gallup Poll, the king of political polling in the United States, has been run in town by members of the Gallup family for nearly 75 years. From 1986 to 1996, that responsibility fell to Alec Gallup, who co-chaired the organization and helped write and edit questions for its polling.

Alec spent three years at Princeton from 1946 to 1949 before transferring to Iowa University, where he graduated with a degree in journalism in 1950. A memorial service is scheduled for July 8 at 11 a.m. in the University Chapel.