CREATED 1/14/2013
 USAWARNING:
This site deals only with the corporate corruption of science, and makes no inference about the motives or activities of individuals involved.
There are many reasons why individuals become embroiled in corporate corruption activities - from political zealotry to over-enthusiastic activism; from gullibility to greed.
Please read the OVERVIEW carefully, and make up your own mind.
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OPINION ONLY
William R ('Bill') Bryan
[Prof]
— A minor cash-for-comments academic economist from the University of Illinois who briefly flirted with serving the tobacco industry, — The cash-for-comments economists network was set up by Professor Robert Tollison with lobbyist and consultant to the Tobacco Institute, James Savarese. It's purpose was to provide propaganda and lobbying services to the tobacco industry in all 50 US States, utilizing trusted and prominent academics at the local universities. It was:
- Funded and controlled by the Tobacco Institute.
- Organised and influenced by the Center for the Study of Public Choice at George Mason University, and the Public Choice Society (neo-con economists).
- Operated on a day-to-day basis through Ogilvy & Mather, and then by James Savarese & Associates a lobby firm based in Washington.
The principle organisers included the:
- Tobacco Institute staff — Peter Sparber, Susan Stuntz, Carol Hyrcaj, Fred Panzer, Jeff Ross and Calvin George.
- Economist organizers — Robert Tollison, William Shughart, Dwight Lee, Richard Wagner, Gary Anderson, Robert Ekelund, Henry Butler
- Organizers from the GMU Center — Anna Tollison (wife of Robert), Elizabeth Masaitis, Carol Robert
- Organizers from Savarese & Assoc. — Jim Savarese, Leslie Dalton, Kelleigh Varnum
- Organisers from Ogilvy & Mather— Richard Marcus, Marcia Silverman, Patricia Milita
It employed only Professors of economics at well-known State universities, and secretly commissioned them to:
- Write op-ed articles for their local newspapers (after they had first been sub-edited and legally cleared by the Tobacco Institute). This earned them $2—3,000.
- Appear as 'independent' witnesses at local ordinance hearings, or at State or Federal legislative hearings.
- Make public statements to the broadcast or print media, or write letters to the editor supporting the tobacco industry's position [but concealing their connections]
- Make submissions to academic/scientific conferences. This could earn them $5,000.
- Write letters to their Congressmen; these letters had often been rough-drafted by the tobacco industry.
If they could claim to be a disinterested 'non-smoker' or even 'anti-smoking' — and " just a concerned citizen" expressing an expert academic opinion — this was seen as further enhancing their value in promoting the industry's positions and policies. Some payments were laundered through Savarese & Associates, and some seem to have passed through the Center for the Study of Public Choice. Other means of hiding the sources of payment were probably via tobacco industry lawyers.
DISAMBIGUATION
There are a number of Bill Bryans who figure in the tobacco archives, including one who is a LA screenwriter, and a journalist from the St Louis Post-Dispatch who writes on privacy matters. Also Nevada's Governor Bill Bryan was elected to the US Senate in November 1988.
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Some key documents • Professor Bill Bryan, Department of Finance, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL Also editor of the Illinois Business Review. Director of the Office of Real Estate Research.
Bryan, a native of Muncie, Indiana, began his career in education as a public school teacher after earning a degree in English and history from Ball State University. He later served as a training officer in the United States Air Force. Following military service, Bryan began his doctoral studies in economics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Upon completing the Ph.D. in 1960, he joined the staff of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, serving eventually as senior economist. 
1960: With the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis
1966: Joined the Department of Finance at the University of Illinois, Champaign/
1970–71: One year secondment to Treasury Department, Director of Debt Analysis in Washington.
1971: Promoted to professor at University of Illinois.
1988 Aug 15: Bryan assumed the role of Director of the Office of Real Estate Research (ORER) at the University of Illinois.
1989 Jan 11: This is a draft document preparing the Tobacco Indistute for a Congressional hearing on excise taxes. It includes the Tollison/Saverese network list for 1989 which has 64 names of witnesses and potential supporters, but it still doesn't cover all 50 States. Some States have two or three network members, so newspapers [and sometimes Congressmen] need to be specified for each member to ensure there is no accidental duplication.
Telephone numbers (office and home) are often included in case an urgent op-ed or ordinance hearing is needed. These are grouped by State: ILLINOIS
Professor Bill Bryan
Department of Finance, 1206 S. 6th Street, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL 61820, 217-333-2110
Professor Fred McChesney
School of Law, University of Chicago, 1111 East 60th Street, Chicago, Illinois. 60637, 312-962-9590
Professor James Heins
University of Illinois, Department of Economics, 330 Commerce Building, West 1206 S. Sixth Street, Champaign, Illinois, 61820 
1989 Jan 11: The Tobacco Institute's Scientific Consultancy Activity 1988-89
This is an 80 page mixed bag of files dumped together [Well worth perusing]. The first document is from 1990 [ordered in reverse]
- Pages 3 to 23 begin with Witness Appearances in 1988 and 1989 involving both "Indoor Air Quality experts" who work for the Tobacco Institute, and three economists [Bob Tollison, Richard Wagner and Dwight Lee]
- Pages 24 to 31 Labor IAQ Presentations in 1988 and 1989 which involves key figures in the labor movement and a few "IAQ experts."
- Pages 32 to 39 IAQ/ETS conferences attended by tobacco industry disinformation experts in 1988 and 1989
- Pages 40 to 41 Academic and Unaffiliated Scientfic Witnesses
- Pages 43 to 53 Smokers Rights Legislation in various states.
- See page 54: Tobacco Institute "Confidential" memo on "Tax Hearing Readiness" which is their battle plan to counter earmaking of cigarette excise taxes to fund health programs. It lists a large number of organizations and a few congressmen who can be relied on to help. It also has both primary and secondary lists of economists from Tollison's "cash-for-comments" network willing to give testimony.
Economists: [Primary]
- Bill Orzechowski, Tobacco Institute
- Robert Tollison, George Mason University
- Richard Wagner, George Mason University
- Dwight Lee, University of Georgia, Athens
- Michael Davis, Southern Methodist University
- Gary Anderson, California State at Northridge
- William Prendergast (resource: Prendergast/Solmon papers)
- Other Network economists [see Secondary attached list below]
"Due by mid-year is a book examining earmarking and "user fees" from a public choice perspective. The treatise will contain 8-10 chapters written by respected economists, including, Henri LePage and Nobel laureate James Buchanan." The Tobacco Institute's list of cash-for-comments professors and senior academics who were available to write op-eds and give evidence at Congressional hearings, etc. had grown extensively. ILLINOIS
Prof Bill Bryan, Dept Finance, Uni of Illinois
Prof Fred McChesney, School of Law, Uni of Chicago
Prof James Heins, Department of Economics, Uni of Illinois.
[TI budget papers show that each op-ed now earned the economists $3,000. Presentations to conferences earned them $5,000. Savarese was paid $70 to $100,000 pa for this project, and Ogilvy & Mather $250,000.] . See page 5
1989 April 18: Susan Stuntz (Issues Manager) at the Tobacco Institute memoes her boss Sam Chilcote. She is sending him material previously used for a two-day "Gerry Long" presentation. He wants to use it in a shorter one-day (unspecified) briefing session. [Gerald H Long was the CEO of RJ Reynolds who in 1988 had just taken over as Chairman of the Tobacco Institute's Executive Committee and wanted to make changes.]
This document has the speaker's powerpoints, including a list of network economists divided on a State-by-State basis. Note the document is 117 pages
The outline for the Powerpoint slides is here in full, together with the names of the politicians they were required to influence. It boasts that the.. Economists' Network 64 Strong [is] Targeted to Congressional Tax Writing Committees [and utilizing the] Production of Op-Eds on Federal Tax Policy.
[List of economists includes Bryan]
1990 May 7: The Tobacco Institute's "1991 Tax and Social Cost Plans" have sections on - "Social Costs" Hearings Readiness (preparation for fielding witnesses at Congressional hearings.) They list here the arguments that the Institute and its allies must be prepared to present.
- "Tax" Hearing Readiness (as above, but for excise tax increases, State and Federal)
- List of cash-for-comment network economists in each State.
This is an updated list with the current locations of each, with phone numbers and addresses.
ILLINOIS
Professor Bill Bryan
Department of Finance, 1206 S. 6th Street, University of Illinois
Champaign, IL 61820 217-333-2110
Professor Fred McChesney
School of Law, University of Chicago
1111 East 60th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 312-962-9590
Professor James Heins
University of Illinois, Department of Economics
330 Commerce Building, West 1206 S. Sixth Street Champaign, Illinois 61820
Brady ceases to appear in the Tobacco Institute lists at this point, and there is no record of him having written articles or provided witness services for the industry.
It is likely that his role was taken over entirely by McChesney and Heins who both made considerable money from the cigarette companies for their comments and support.
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WORTH READING
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