Madonna earned a Ph.D. in political history from the University of Delaware.[1] His teaching and writing interests focus on the American presidency, American political parties and political behavior, and voting behavior.[1] Prior to joining the faculty of Franklin and Marshall in May 2004, he was Professor and Chair of the Government Department at Millersville University of Pennsylvania and was director of its Center for Politics and Public Affairs. His academic writings have appeared in Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography,The Polling Report,Presidential Studies Quarterly,Pennsylvania History,Intellect,Academe, and The Journal of Practical Politics.[1] He has delivered several named lectures, including the Neaman Foundation Lecture in 2006 and the annual James Buchanan Foundation Lecture, "From Buchanan to Bush: Campaign Practices Then and Now," and the annual Dwight D. Eisenhower Society Lecture, "The Political Skills and Leadership of Dwight D. Eisenhower" in 2007.[1]
Madonna regularly appears as an analyst for WGAL-TV and as panelist on WPVI-TV's Inside Story.[1] He frequently appears as a guest on talk radio programs across Pennsylvania. He has provided election coverage for WHYY-TV, WPVI-TV and WITF-TV.[1] During the 1990s, he was a regular panelist on The Peoples’ Business, a public television news and commentary program.[1] He is the current host of the weekly Pennsylvania news and commentary program, Pennsylvania Newsmakers.[1] He has also contributed material to political web sites including MSNBC, The Hill, RealClearPolitics, and Fox News.[1] He co-authors Politically Uncorrected a bi-weekly political commentary column that has been carried by Capitolwire and PoliticsPA.[1] Reprints of the column occasionally appeared in other state and national news outlets, including stateline.org and RealClearPolitics.[1] He has moderated forums and debates for gubernatorial, congressional, state legislative, and school board elections.[1]
As a college professor, he has received the Distinguished Professor award, given by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the President's Medallion, given by Millersville University of Pennsylvania, and a "special commendation for scholarship and leadership," from the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.[1] For his speeches and lectures, he was named "Outstanding Speaker of the Year" by the Speech Communication Society of Pennsylvania and was given the Daniel Roselle Award by the Middle States Council for the Social Studies.[1] The Pennsylvania Report named him to the 2009 "The Pennsylvania Report 100" list of influential figures in Pennsylvania politics and noted that he is the "go-to professor for all things Pennsylvania politics."[3] He was named to the PoliticsPA list of "Sy Snyder's Power 50" list of influential individuals in Pennsylvania politics in 2003.[4]
Madonna, G. Terry (2008). Pivotal Pennsylvania: Presidential Politics from FDR to the Twenty-First Century. Vol. Pennsylvania History Studies Series No. 31. Mansfield, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical Association. ISBN978-1-932304-40-4.
