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Institute for Humane Studies

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    The Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) is a non-profit organization that promotes the teaching and research of classical liberalism in higher education in the United States. IHS offers funding opportunities, programs and events for faculty and graduate students seeking careers in academia as well as various fellowships1.

    Founded by F. A. "Baldy" Harper in 19612, the organization later began an association with George Mason University and in 1985 moved to Fairfax, Virginia3. The institute is currently located in the Arlington campus of George Mason University. It is partially funded by the Charles Koch Foundation4.

    History

    The Institute for Humane Studies was founded in 1961 in Menlo Park, California, by F. A. Harper, who "believed that through education about human affairs and freedom, students could develop the inspiration to foster peace and prosperity"5. Initially serving as the secretary and treasurer, Harper became the institute's president in 1966, a position he held until his death in 19736. Murray Rothbard played a key role as speaker at IHS conferences in the 1970s, promoting Austrian economics7. On 18 May 1999, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nobel Prize-winning economist F. A. Hayek, who had been "instrumental in helping F.A. 'Baldy' Harper found the Institute in 1961", IHS staff and friends gathered to honor Hayek8. Following Harper in the role of president were Louis M. Spadaro and Leonard Liggio, who served as president from 1980 to 19899. From 1998 to 2000 Stanford graduate David C. Nott, now with the Reason Foundation, led the organization as president10. 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 College11. Her predecessor, Marty Zupan, served as president and CEO from 2001 to 2016 after serving as editor of Reason magazine12.

    After beginning an association with George Mason University, Liggio, Walter Grinder, and John Blundell moved the institute to Fairfax, Virginia in 19853. 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 professors Christopher Coyne, Tyler Cowen, Virgil Storr and Todd Zywicki, and Charles Koch (Chairman Emeritus), Brian Hooks, Art Pope, Chris Rufer and Ryan Stowers (Chairman)13.

    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 Foundation14, the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation, the Ralph Smeed Private Memorial Foundation15, the Koch Family Foundations1, the Searle Freedom Trust16, the E.L. Craig Foundation and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.

    In March 2012, in the midst of a legal dispute between Charles Koch and the Cato Institute 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"17. Charles Koch donated a total of $12.4 million to the organization from 2008 to 20124. The John William Pope Foundation "has played a prominent role in supporting" the institute since the Foundation's creation in 198614.

    IHS fundraising appeals have been targeted to specific projects in the past. In 2011, Rand Paul signed a 10-page fundraising letter18 seeking gifts for the institute's Learn Liberty project, which describes itself as a "resource for exploring the ideas of a free society"19. Learn Liberty was acquired by Students for Liberty in 201920.

    Programs

    This section of the Wikipedia article, from which this is derived, is notably out of date (mostly from 2016 or earlier), so we have chosen not to include it at this time.

    1. Jacob H. Huebert, Libertarianism Today (Santa Barbara, California: Praeger, 2010), 18. ↩︎

    2. Will Wilkinson, "Harper, Floyd Arthur 'Baldy' (1905-1973)", in The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, ed. Ronald Hamowy (Los Angeles: SAGE, 2008), 217-218. ↩︎

    3. John Blundell, Waging the War of Ideas (London: The Institute of Economic Affairs, 2003), 115. ↩︎

    4. Chris Young, "Koch-funded think tank offers schools course in libertarianism" (PublicIntegrity.org, 26 August 2014), accessed 18 December 2024. ↩︎

    5. Mimi R. Gladstein, Ayn Rand (New York: Continuum, 2010), 124. ↩︎

    6. F. A. Harper, The Writings of F. A. Harper: Volume 1: The Major Works (Menlo Park, California: Institute for Humane Studies, 1978), 436. ↩︎

    7. Brian Doherty, "Rothbard, Murray (1926-1995)", in Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, 443. ↩︎

    8. "IHS Remembers Hayek's Contributions to Liberty", The IHS Account: Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University (Spring 1999): 1. ↩︎

    9. Murray N. Rothbard, The Ethics of Liberty (New York: New York University Press, 2002), xlvi. ↩︎

    10. "David C. Nott" (MediaTransparency.org), accessed 27 December 2024. ↩︎

    11. "Emily Chamlee-Wright" (TheIHS.org), accessed 27 December 2024. ↩︎

    12. Fred D. Miller, Jr., Out of the Mouths of Babes: The Infant Formula Controversy (Bowling Green, Ohio: Social Philosophy & Policy Center, 1983), i. ↩︎

    13. "About IHS" (TheIHS.org), accessed 30 December 2024. ↩︎

    14. "The Institute for Humane Studies" (JWPF.org), accessed 31 December 2024. ↩︎

    15. "Smeed Foundation awards grants to Treasure Valley organizations" (IdahoPress.com, 3 December 2013), accessed 31 December 2024. ↩︎

    16. Timothy B. Lee, "Thanks to IHS and the Searle Foundation" (TimothyBlee.com, 28 September 2009), accessed 31 December 2024. ↩︎

    17. Eric Lichtblau, "Cato Institute Is Caught in a Rift Over Its Direction" (NYTimes.com, 6 March 2012), accessed 31 December 2024. ↩︎

    18. The Associated Press, "Rand Paul raising funds for arm of George Mason" (Archive.ph, 23 September 2011), accessed 31 December 2024. ↩︎

    19. "Who is Learn Liberty?" (LearnLiberty.org), accessed 31 December 2024. ↩︎

    20. "Students For Liberty Acquires Learn Liberty from the Institute for Humane Studies" (FTN.media, 5 March 2019), accessed 31 December 2024. ↩︎

    This article is derived from the English Wikipedia article "Institute for Humane Studies" as of 8 Sep 2024, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.