Philanthropic Leader, Scholar and Author
The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation has announced that James Piereson, a highly regarded philanthropic leader, scholar and author, is a 2025 Bradley Prize winner. Piereson will receive the award at the Bradley Prizes ceremony on Thursday, May 29th at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.
Now in its 21st year, the Bradley Prize is awarded to individuals whose extraordinary work exemplifies the Foundation’s mission to restore, strengthen, and protect the principles and institutions of American exceptionalism.
“Jim has dedicated his career to preserving and promoting the principles of ordered liberty, free enterprise and a strong civil society,” said Rick Graber, president of The Bradley Foundation. “His contributions to philanthropy, scholarship and discourse have further solidified the intellectual foundations of conservatism and have helped propel ideas into action. Jim’s illustrious career and unwavering commitment to American ideals make him well deserving of a Bradley Prize.”
As in the past, this year’s award winners were chosen by the Bradley Prizes Selection Committee, after careful review of over 60 distinguished nominations. Each award carries a stipend of $300,000.
“I am grateful to The Bradley Foundation, and to Richard Graber and the selection committee, for judging me worthy of this prize. The Bradley Prizes are the most distinguished of all awards given to conservatives here and around the world,” said Piereson. “I am even more grateful for this award because I have worked along-side and in collaboration with colleagues at The Bradley Foundation for four decades during my tenure at the John M. Olin Foundation and, more recently, with the Thomas W. Smith Foundation. Many dear friends are included in the roster of past winners of this prize. I feel privileged to join their company.”
“A noted historian wrote many decades ago that conservatism in America is ‘a thankless persuasion’ because it is doomed to defeat and disappointment in a country committed to progressive ideas,” added Piereson. “He was wrong about that, as history has proven. Yet for me, the conservative persuasion, far from being thankless, has been the most rewarding enterprise with which I could have been associated, for the friends and colleagues I have known and admired, and for the great cause it represents. The award is especially meaningful because it suggests that I may have contributed back to our enterprise a fraction of what it has given to me.”
Piereson is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Public Policy where he writes and lectures on philanthropy, higher education, and general political subjects. From 1985 to 2005, he was executive director and trustee of the John M. Olin Foundation, which supported individuals and institutions working to advance conservative ideals. From 2006 to 2022, he was president of the William E. Simon Foundation, a private foundation with interests in education and religion. Before joining the Olin Foundation, Piereson served on the political science faculties of Iowa State University, Indiana University, and the University of Pennsylvania, where he taught government and political thought.
Piereson serves on the boards of several not-for-profit institutions, including the Thomas W. Smith Foundation, the Foundation for Cultural Review (The New Criterion), The Pinkerton Foundation, and Donors Trust. He is a past member of the Boards of Trustees of the Manhattan Institute, The Hoover Institution at Stanford University, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, the Center for Individual Rights, the American Spectator Foundation, and The Philanthropy Roundtable.
Piereson is a member of the selection committee for the Hayek Book Prize awarded annually by the Manhattan Institute to the author of a distinguished book on liberty and limited government. He serves on the Grant Advisory Committee of the Searle Freedom Trust, and is chairman of the selection committee for the Clare Boothe Luce Program on Women in Science and Engineering administered by the Henry Luce Foundation. He serves on the publication committee of City Journal.
He is the author of several books, and his articles and reviews on political ideas and higher education have appeared in many esteemed publications.
Piereson holds a B.A. and a Ph.D. in political science from Michigan State University.