Grove City professor, Trib columnist tapped as editor for conservative magazine The American Spectator

Nov. 24—A Grove City College professor and director of a Pennsylvania think tank has been tapped to serve as editor for conservative magazine The American Spectator.

Paul Kengor, a political science professor and senior director for the conservative Institute for Faith & Freedom think tank, will serve as the new editor for The American Spectator.

Founder and longtime editor-in-chief R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. said the appointment ends a three-year search.

"Paul and I conferred regularly, and then, last spring, while we were going over our list of candidates for the job at my favorite restaurant, a light bulb went off in my cerebrum," Tyrrell Jr. said. "I said, 'Paul — why don't you take the job?' Paul took a sip of his wine and looked at me as if to declare, 'I thought you'd never ask.'"

Founded in 1967, The American Spectator rose to prominence in the 1990s thanks largely to its coverage of political scandal and in particular, a series of stories about Bill and Hillary Clinton as part of the "Arkansas Project," funded in part by former Tribune-Review owner Richard Mellon Scaife. "Arkansas Project" stories ultimately helped bring about a sexual harassment lawsuit that led to the failed impeachment proceedings against then-President Bill Clinton.

Over the years, Kengor has written for the magazine and helped develop new writing talent through the magazine's Young Writers Program, with more than a dozen Grove City graduates going on to become interns, writers and full-time staff members at The American Spectator.

"Tyrrell and others at the magazine have been enormously impressed with the Grove City College students sent their way," Kengor noted. "They've ranged from interns to Tyrrell's personal assistant on his memoirs to the person who ran the entire office a few years back. Our students rarely fail to disappoint."

Grove City College President Paul J. McNulty said Kengor's appointment solidifies the College's longstanding relationship with one of America's leading conservative outlets and provides an opportunity to expand the institution's influence in an important space.

The college will now benefit from a closer relationship between one of our leading scholars and one of the country's most influential outlets for robust and fulsome discussion of politics, culture, and society," McNulty said.

Kengor said he aims to keep the magazine "funny, hilarious, and politically incorrect. With fearless wit, great writers, and great writing."

In addition to his work in the classroom and with the Institute for Faith & Freedom, Kengor is a New York Times best-selling author, a Tribune-Review columnist, a contributor to a host of media outlets that have ranged from USA Today and the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, and a regular presence as a guest on conservative talk radio and television.

Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .