The Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that promotes the teaching and research of

classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, e ...

higher education in the United States Higher education in the United States is an optional stage of formal learning following secondary education. Higher education is also referred as post-secondary education, third-stage, third-level, or tertiary education. It covers stages 5 to 8 ...

. IHS offers funding opportunities, programs, and events for faculty and graduate students seeking careers in academia as well as various fellowships. Founded by F. A. "Baldy" Harper in 1961, Quote: "and he moved to transfer the bulk of the Volker funds to a new Institute for Humane Studies, which would expand the Volker concept and would provide a permanent home for libertarian fellowships, scholarship, conferences, and publications." the organization later began an association with

George Mason University George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...

and in 1985 moved to Fairfax, Virginia. The institute is currently located at 3434 Washington Blvd. on the Arlington campus of George Mason University. It is partially funded by the Charles Koch Foundation.

History

The Institute for Humane Studies was founded in 1961 in

Menlo Park, California Menlo Park is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County within the San Francisco Bay Area of California in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south ...

, by F. A. Harper in order to promote peace, prosperity, and social harmony by fostering a greater understanding of human affairs and freedom. Initially serving as the secretary and treasurer, Harper became the institute's president in 1966, a position he held until his death in 1973.The Writings of F. A. Harper, Volume 1: The Major Works
The Writings of F. A. Harper, Volume 1: The Major Works, 1978 Murray Rothbard played a key role as speaker at IHS conferences in the 1970s, promoting Austrian economics. On May 18, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nobel Prize-winning economist Friedrich A. Hayek, who had been "instrumental in helping F.A. "Baldy" Harper found the Institute in 1961", IHS staff and friends gathered to honor Hayek. Following Harper in the role of president were Louis M. Spadaro and Leonard Liggio, who served as president from 1980 to 1989. From 1998 to 2000

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...

graduate David C. Nott, now with the Reason Foundation, led the organization as president. The current president and CEO, Emily Chamlee-Wright, served as provost and dean at Washington College from 2012 to 2016 and was previously the Elbert H. Neese Professor of Economics and associate dean at

Beloit College Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin. Founded in 1846, when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and ...

. Her predecessor,

Marty Zupan Martha "Marty" L. Zupan (born April 5, 1949) is the President Emeritus of the Institute for Humane Studies. Biography Zupan received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and psychology from the State University of New York at Fredonia. In 1975, she j ...

, served as president and CEO from 2001 to 2016 after serving as editor of ''Reason'' magazine. After beginning an association with George Mason University, Liggio, Walter Grinder, and John Blundell moved the institute to Fairfax, Virginia in 1985. The organization is currently located on the George Mason University Arlington campus, along with sister organization the Mercatus Center.

Organization and funding

The institute's board of directors includes

Scott Beaulier Scott Beaulier is an American economist and academic administrator who is Dean of Business and Professor of Economics for the University of Wyoming's College of Business. He was previously Dean of North Dakota State University's College of Busines ...

, Christopher Coyne, Tyler Cowen, David Humphreys,

Charles G. Koch Charles de Ganahl Koch ( ; born November 1, 1935) is an American billionaire businessman. As of November 2022, he was ranked as the 13th richest person in the world on ''Bloomberg Billionaires Index'', with an estimated net worth of $66 billio ...

(Chairman Emeritus),

Brian Hooks Brian Hooks (born July 27, 1974) is an American actor, comedian, producer and director. He is best known for his roles as protagonist Rob Douglas in the screwball comedy '' 3 Strikes'', and Nick Delaney on the UPN television sitcom ''Eve''. A ...

, Art Pope (Chairman), Chris Rufer, Virgil Storr, Ryan Stowers, and Todd Zywicki. IHS has received funding from a number of foundations, including the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, the F.M. Kirby Foundation, the Marcus Foundation, the John William Pope Foundation, the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation, the Ralph Smeed Private Memorial Foundation, the Koch Family Foundations, the

Searle Freedom Trust The Searle Freedom Trust is a 501(c)(3) grant-making foundation located in the United States. It was established by business executive Daniel C. Searle in 1998. As of 2017, the trust had an endowment of $141 million. Origins Searle considered hi ...

, the E.L. Craig Foundation, and the

Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, commonly known as the Bradley Foundation, is an American charitable foundation based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that primarily supports conservative causes. The foundation provides between $35 million and $ ...

. In March 2012, in the midst of a legal dispute between Charles Koch and the

Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Ind ...

that caused renewed scrutiny of Koch's political philanthropy, IHS's chief financial officer told the ''New York Times'' that Koch is "a longtime and generous supporter of ours, but we're not involved as a political organization." Charles Koch donated a total of $12.4 million to the organization from 2008 to 2012. The John William Pope Foundation has donated $2.1 million to the Institute since 1986. IHS fundraising appeals have been targeted to specific projects in the past. In 2011,

Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American physician and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, U.S. senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party (Un ...

signed a 10-page fundraising letter seeking gifts for the institute's Learn Liberty project, which IHS describes as a "resource for exploring the ideas of a free society." Learn Liberty was acquired by Students for Liberty in 2019.

Programs

Seminars

Each summer, IHS runs several free, weekend-long summer seminars for university students from around the world. Seminars are interdisciplinary and include lectures on history, economics, philosophy, law, and political science. Seminar themes include the value of property rights, limited government, peace,

natural rights Some philosophers distinguish two types of rights, natural rights and legal rights. * Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are ''universal'', '' fundamental'' an ...

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

, individual autonomy, and

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

s. There are introductory and advanced seminars. IHS also runs weekend on-campus seminars during the academic year. IHS and Liberty Fund co-sponsor the Advanced Topics in Liberty program, which is an invitation-only, discussion-based weekend conference series. For graduate students pursuing academic careers, IHS sponsors an annual research colloquium, policy research seminars and invitation-only Career Development Seminars designed to help students "land a job in academia, gain tenure, and contribute to the academic and intellectual conversation."

Scholarships and grants

Each year IHS awards over $1 million in scholarships to students from universities around the world. Through its Humane Studies Fellowship program, IHS awards up to $15,000 in scholarships to graduate students embarking on "liberty-advancing careers in ideas." Each summer, through the Summer Graduate Research Fellowship, IHS gives $5,000 stipends to young academics "to refine and complete a publishable scholarly article or thesis chapter that engages ideas within the classical liberal tradition." The IHS PhD Scholarship awards $1,500 to "students dedicated to developing, teaching, and applying the principles of a free society." Other various grants are awarded to graduate students and junior faculty to aid in their ability to present research or interview at academic or professional conferences.

Online projects

In 2010, IHS launched LearnLiberty.org, a website producing educational videos on

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

ideas. The site's stated goals are "to provide a starting point for conversations on important questions: What is the nature of man and society? What are the best ways to organize human society? What is the proper role for government?" Notable guest lecturers featured on Learn Liberty include

David Schmidtz David Schmidtz (; born 1955) is a Canadian-American philosopher. He is Presidential Chair of Moral Science at West Virginia University's Chambers College of Business and Economics. He is also editor-in-chief of the journal ''Social Philosophy & ...

of the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first ...

and

Jeffrey Miron Jeffrey Alan "Jeff" Miron (; born January 31, 1957) is an American economist. He served as the chairman of the Department of Economics at Boston University from 1992 to 1998, and currently teaches at Harvard University, serving as a Senior Lectur ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

Internships

Each summer, for more than 20 years, IHS hosted the Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program. The program is now hosted by the Charles Koch Institute. The program ran for 10 weeks, and included a paid public policy internship with two career and policy seminars. Fellows were placed at one partner think tanks and policy organizations across the United States. IHS also ran a year-round journalism internship program that placed aspiring journalists at media companies and non-profit newsrooms, but both the journalism and policy internship programs have been discontinued. In 2019, it was reported that John Elliott, who had directed IHS's journalism internship program from 2008 to 2013, had ties to the

alt-right The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a far-right, white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity during the mid-2 ...

movement. IHS issued a statement which said "After careful review, we have uncovered no incident during his tenure at IHS in which Elliott exhibited anti-Semitic or bigoted views."

Alum award

Each year, IHS awards an alumnus of its programs with the Charles G. Koch Outstanding IHS Alum Award. The award is given in recognition of "significant contributions to advancing liberty." Past award winners include libertarian legal theorist and law professor Randy Barnett; Kris Mauren, co-founder of the

Acton Institute The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty is an American research and educational institution, or think tank, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, (with an office in Rome) whose stated mission is "to promote a free and virtuous society c ...

; law professor Todd Zywicki; Kristina Kendall, executive producer for John Stossel; political science professor John Tomasi;

Scott Bullock Scott G. Bullock is an American lawyer who focuses on property rights issues such as eminent domain and civil forfeiture. He has been President and General Counsel at the Institute for Justice since 2016, a nonprofit libertarian public intere ...

, senior attorney at the

Institute for Justice The Institute for Justice (IJ) is a libertarian non-profit public interest law firm in the United States. It has litigated ten cases before the United States Supreme Court dealing with eminent domain, interstate commerce, public financing for el ...

; economist

Peter Boettke Peter Joseph Boettke (; born January 3, 1960) is an American economist of the Austrian School. He is currently a professor of economics and philosophy at George Mason University; the BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism, vice president for ...

; John Hood, president of the John Locke Foundation; and David Schmidtz, a professor of philosophy and economics.

References

External links

Institute for Humane Studies website

Guide to the Institute for Humane Studies Miscellaneous Records
an
selected sound recordings online
at the Hoover Institution Archives,

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Institute For Humane Studies Organizations established in 1961 1961 establishments in Virginia George Mason University Libertarian organizations based in the United States Libertarian think tanks Non-profit organizations based in Arlington, Virginia Classical liberalism 501(c)(3) organizations