2026 Freedom and Opportunity Academic Prize Winners
Read the 2026 press release here.
- Mark Bauerlein, PhD, Visiting Professor, Department of English, Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society, The Ohio State University
- Bradley J. Birzer, PhD, Professor of History and Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies, Department of History, Hillsdale College
- Bryan Cutsinger, PhD, Assistant Professor of Economics, College of Business, Florida Atlantic University
- Marguerite Duane, MD, MHA, MSPH, FAAFP, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, Georgetown University; Director, Center for Fertility Awareness Education and Research; and Associate Professor, Restorative Reproductive Medicine, Nausti College of Osteopathic Medicine, Duquesne University
- William Edmund Fahey, PhD, President, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts
- Angela Franks, PhD, Associate Professor of Theology, School of Theology and Religious Studies, The Catholic University of America
- Joseph Griffith, PhD, William Blackstone Professor of Law & Society and Assistant Professor, Director of the Classical Learning Program, Ashland University
- Carson Holloway, PhD, Professor of Political Science and Department Chair, University of Nebraska at Omaha
- Jeffrey Hoopes, PhD, Professor and Harold Q. Langenderfer Scholar of Accounting and Thomas Willis Lambeth Distinguished Chair in Public Policy, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Andrew Johnston, PhD, Associate Professor of Economics, School of Civic Leadership, University of Texas at Austin
- Wilfred M. McClay, PhD, Victor Davis Hanson Chair in Classical History and Western Civilization, Department of History, Hillsdale College
- Randy Wayne, PhD, Associate Professor of Plant Biology, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University
- John D. Wilsey, PhD, Professor of Church History and Philosophy and Chair, Church History Department, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
- Matthew Wright, PhD, Associate Professor, Torrey Honors College, Biola University
2025 Freedom and Opportunity Academic Prize Winners
Read the 2025 press release here.
- Erika Bachiochi, JD, Professor of Practice and Director of the Mercy Otis Warren Initiative in the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University
- Stephanie Barclay, JD, Professor of Law at Georgetown Law School, Faculty Co-Director at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, and Faculty Affiliate at the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School
- David Bernstein, JD, Distinguished University Professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School, Director of the Liberty and Law Center at George Mason University, and Associate Fellow in the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Josh Blackman, JD, Centennial Chair of Constitutional Law at the South Texas College of Law Houston and Nonresident Scholar at the Georgetown University Center for the Constitution
- Joshua Dunn, PhD, Executive Director of the Institute of American Civics at the University of Tennessee and Visiting Graduate Faculty of Master of Arts in History and American Government at Ashland University
- Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, PhD, Howard Marks Presidential Professor of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the Penn State Initiative for the Study of the Markets
- Byron Johnson, PhD, Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor University, Distinguished Professor of Religion and Society at the School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University, and Faculty Affiliate of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University
- Julian Ku, JD, Maurice A. Deane Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law and Faculty Director of International Programs at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University and Visiting Professor of Law at Columbia University Law School
- Mark Moyar, PhD, William P. Harris Chair of Military History and Director of the Center of Military History and Strategy at Hillsdale College
- Clara Piano, PhD, Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Mississippi
- Tyler Ransom, PhD, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Oklahoma
- Nathan Schlueter, PhD, Professor of Philosophy and Religion and Pre-Law Director at Hillsdale College
- Colleen Sheehan, PhD, Professor in the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University
- John Yoo, JD, Emmanuel S. Heller Chair in Law and Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law and Distinguished Visiting Professor in the School of Civic Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin
2024 Freedom and Opportunity Academic Prize Winners
Read the 2024 press release here.
- J. Joel Alicea, JD, Associate Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Project on Constitutional Originalism and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition at the Catholic University of America
- Paul Dragos Aligica, PhD, Professor and Senior Research Fellow at the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics in the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and KPMG Professor of Governance at the University of Bucharest
- Francis Beckwith, PhD, Professor of Philosophy & Church-State Studies, Affiliate Professor of Political Science, and Associate Director of the Graduate Program in Philosophy at Baylor University
- Kevin Burns, PhD, Associate Professor of Political Science at Christendom College
- Gregory Collins, PhD, Lecturer in the Department of Political Science and Program on Ethics, Politics, and Economics at Yale University
- Justin Dyer, PhD, Professor in the Department of Government and Dean of the School of Civic Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin
- William Inboden, PhD, Professor and Director of the Alexander Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida, and Peterson Senior Fellow with the Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
- Melissa Moschella, PhD, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America
- Michael Munger, PhD, Professor of Political Science in the Sanford School of Public Policy and Director of the PPE Certificate Program at Duke University
- Pavlos Papadopoulos, PhD, Assistant Professor of Humanities at Wyoming Catholic College
- Mark Regnerus, PhD, Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin
- Alexander Salter, PhD, Georgie G. Snyder Associate Professor of Economics in the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University
- Luke Sheahan, PhD, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Duquesne University and Senior Affiliate at the Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania
- Todd Zywicki, JD, George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law at George Mason University Antonin Scalia School of Law and Research Fellow of the Law & Economics Center
2023 Freedom and Opportunity Academic Prize Winners
Read the 2023 press release here.
- Daniel Burns, PhD, Associate Professor of Politics at the University of Dallas
- William English, PhD, Assistant Professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy at Georgetown University
- Philip Hamburger, JD, Professor of Law at Columbia Law School
- Matthew Kroenig, PhD, Professor in the Department of Government at Georgetown University
- Allen Mendenhall, PhD, Associate Dean and Professor at Troy University
- Robert Miller, JD, Professor of Law and Rouse Chairholder at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School
- Catherine Pakaluk, PhD, Associate Professor of Social Research and Economic Thought at Catholic University of America
- James Patterson, PhD, Associate Professor at Ave Maria University
- Ionut Popescu, PhD, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Texas State University
- Siri Terjesen, PhD, Professor and Associate Dean at Florida Atlantic University
- Andrew Walker, PhD, Associate Professor of Christian Ethics and Apologetics at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
- Bradford Wilcox, PhD, Professor of Sociology at the University of Virginia
