James Piereson is a Senior Fellow and Director of Manhattan Institute's Center for the American University and president of the William E. Simon Foundation. Mr. Piereson's research focuses on the importance of the classical liberal education and intellectual pluralism. In his recent Weekly Standard article "The Left University", Mr. Piereson outlined his vision for the American university that is neither liberal nor conservative but one which encourages and tolerates a range of ideas on important subjects.

Before joining the Manhattan Institute, Mr. Piereson was executive director and trustee of the John M. Olin Foundation (1985-2005, when, following longstanding plans, the foundation closed its doors). In addition, he served on the Political Science faculties of several prominent universities, including Iowa State University (1974), Indiana University (1975), and the University of Pennsylvania (1976-82), where he taught courses in the field of United States government and political theory.

He is the author (with J. Sullivan and G. Marcus) of Political Tolerance and American Democracy (University of Chicago Press, 1982). Mr. Piereson has also published articles and reviews in numerous journals, including Commentary, The American Political Science Review, The Public Interest, the Journal of Politics, Philanthropy, The American Spectator, The Wall Street Journal, and The Weekly Standard.

Mr. Piereson serves on the boards of: Manhattan Institute, the Center for Individual Rights, The Philanthropy Roundtable (Chairman, 1995-99), and Donors Trust. He is a past member (1999-2005) of the Board of Overseers of The Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Mr. Piereson is also a member of the Executive Advisory Committee of the Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester and also a member of the Board of Visitors of the School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University. He is a trustee of the William E. Simon Foundation.

Mr. Piereson earned a B.A. degree (1968) and a Ph.D. degree (1973) in political science from Michigan State University.

He lives in Sleepy Hollow, NY, with his wife, Patricia, and their son, William.

Articles/Op-eds

• Facing Capitalism's Greatest Crisis Weekly Standard, 03-31-08
• The Culture of Conspiracy Wall Street Journal, 11-24-07
• "The Closing of the American Mind" at 20 The New Criterion, November 2007
• On the Paradox of Success RealClearPolitics.com, 9-11-06
• The Rise & Fall of the Intellectual The New Criterion, September 2006
• Is the New York Times About to be Indicted? The New Criterion, 5-24-06 (This article also appeared on RealClearPolitics.com 05-24-06)
• Lee Harvey Oswald and the Liberal Crack-Up RealClearPolitics.com, 5-13-06 (This article also appeared on Commentary 05-02-06)