WASHINGTON—The Heritage Foundation today announced the winners of its fourth annual Freedom and Opportunity Academic Prizes, recognizing higher education professionals whose important work advances key conservative policy priorities.

Heritage President Dr. Kevin Roberts congratulated the winners, all of whom received between $15,000 and $20,000 for research and education:

“Each year, the winners of Heritage’s Freedom and Opportunity Academic Prizes remind us that the best days of American higher education are still ahead. Their scholarship on the American family, the dignity of the human person, the promise of free enterprise, our heritage and citizenship, national security, and the principles of our Founding is helping to lay the groundwork for the new Golden Age. We are honored to stand with this year’s winners as they help ensure America’s next 250 years are even brighter than the last.”

The 2026 Freedom and Opportunity Academic Prize recipients include:  

• 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

Dr. Johnson made the following statement:

“I'm honored to receive the Freedom and Opportunity Academic Prize. My research asks a simple question: what actually lets people rise? The conditions of family, schooling, and work that turn a person's potential into a flourishing life are among the most consequential in economics, and they deserve the academy's most serious attention. I'm grateful for the support from the foundation and am glad to pursue this work alongside colleagues at UT Austin's School of Civic Leadership who share the conviction that universities exist to serve human flourishing.”

Dr. Duane made the following statement:

"As a family physician dedicated to helping patients build their families and teaching the next generation of medical professionals to do the same, I am honored to receive this recognition and support from The Heritage Foundation. Since first offering an elective at Georgetown University’s School of Medicine in 2010, I have dedicated the last 15+ years to building FACTS about Fertility to educate current and future medical professionals about the role of fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs) in women’s health and family planning.

“Through interdisciplinary collaboration, medical education, and peer-reviewed research, we examine how medical professionals can better support women, couples, and families by aligning scientific evidence with ethical practice and respect for personal responsibility. I am delighted to continue this work through Duquesne University's Center for Fertility Awareness Education and Research and to integrate this content into the standard medical school curriculum at Duquesne’s Nasuti College of Osteopathic Medicine. The Heritage Foundation Academic Prize will elevate this important aspect of healthcare, advancing access to cooperative hormonal and reproductive medical care and promoting the recognition of the female cycle as the fifth vital sign."

Winners of the Freedom and Opportunity Academic Prizes can apply their winnings to advance economic freedom, human dignity and flourishing, constitutional governance, national sovereignty, and related traditional American values.  

Learn more about the Freedom and Opportunity Academic Prizes here.