FACULTY &
GUESTS
Most of our professors and preceptors come from Oxford or Cambridge, or leading US universities. They are all brilliant, and some of them have a global reputation; you will notice that they love ideas and they love to challenge and inspire bright, curious students.
Many of the Institute's faculty members are classical liberals, of one form or another, but we like to bring into the mix a wide range of ideological positions, from egalitarians to anarcho-capitalists. Introducing our students to counterintuitive claims, advocated by credible exponents,
is guaranteed to make them think.
Hertford College, University of Oxford
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Professor Millican is Gilbert Ryle Fellow and Professor of Philosophy at Hertford College, University of Oxford. Prof Millican has a special interest in the relationship between Philosophy and Computer Science and the ethics of artificial intelligence. He created the Philosophy & Computer Science degree at the University of Oxford.
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A noted Hume scholar, Prof Millican is also a Chess Grandmaster.
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DR. John Filling
King’s College, University of Cambridge
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Dr Filling is a lecturer in the faculty of philosophy at the University of Cambridge, and a fellow and director of studies in philosophy at King’s College, Cambridge. After an undergraduate degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, Dr Filling was awarded an M.Phil. and then a D.Phil., all from Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford.
A former doctoral student of analytical Marxist, G.A. Cohen, Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory, All Souls, Oxford, Dr Filling’s research focuses on the history of political thought.
Harvard University
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Professor Miron is Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Economics at Harvard University.
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He is the author of four books including Drug War Crimes: The Consequences of Prohibition.
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DR. ANA LAURA EDELHOFF
Universität Luzern
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Dr Edelhoff is a philosopher specialising in ancient philosophy, with a special interest in Aristotle and Plato’s metaphysics. She was a teaching fellow at the Universität Hamburg before moving to Universität Luzern.
In 2013 Dr Edelhoff won the Sidgwick Philosophy Prize from Corpus Christi College, Oxford.
Author
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Professor Kealey is a historian of science and economics. Originally a biochemist at Balliol College, Oxford, and later at the University of Cambridge, Professor Kealey was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, Britain's foremost private university.
Prof Kealey is the author of The Economic Laws of Scientific Research and Sex, Science and Profits: How People Evolved to Make Money.
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House of Lords
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Lord Hannan is a Member of the House of Lords and Vice-Chairman of the UK Conservative Party. A Member of the UK Board of Trade and President of the Initiative for Free Trade, Lord Hannan was a five-term MEP in Brussels, where he founded the European Conservatives and Reformists Party. He writes a weekly column for The Sunday Telegraph and The Washington Examiner.
Born in Lima, Peru, Lord Hannan is fluent in French and Spanish. He holds a First Class honours degree in Modern History from Oriel College, University of Oxford.
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UC Berkeley
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Professor Wasow is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at UC Berkeley. He was a statistician and Assistant Professor of Politics at Princeton University. He holds a BA from Stanford and an MA in Government, an MA in Statistics, and a PhD in African American Studies, all from Harvard University.
He is the co-founder of BlackPlanet.com and the Brooklyn Excelsior Charter School.
Former Prime Minister of Australia
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Tony Abbott is an Australian politician. He studied PPE at The Queen's College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar.
He served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives (1994–2019), and leader of the Liberal Party of Australia (2009–15).
He was the 28th Prime Minister of Australia (2013–15).
DR. CATHLEEN JOHNSON
West Virginia University
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Dr Johnson is the Assistant Chair in the Economics Department at West Virginia University. She specialises in network theory, and in conducting large field experiments in economics, following the work of her mentor, Nobel Laureate, Professor Vernon Smith.
Author, Lawyer and Historian
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Helen Dale became the youngest winner of Australia’s premier literary prize, the Miles Franklin Award, for her first novel, The Hand that Signed the Paper. She read law at Brasenose College, Oxford, and was Senior Adviser to Australian Senator David Leyonhjelm.
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Her latest book, Kingdom of the Wicked, imagines a post-industrial Roman Empire.
PROFESSOR RALF BADER
Université de Fribourg
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Professor Bader is professor of Philosophy at the Université de Fribourg in Switzerland, and Chairman of the Department of Ethics and Politics Philosophy. His research focuses on ethics, meta-ethics, metaphysics, Kant, political philosophy and decision theory.
Previously he was a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, and an associate professor in the philosophy department at the University of Oxford. Prior to moving to Oxford, Prof Bader was assistant professor in the philosophy department at New York University.
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Dr. Stephen Davies
Distinguished Fellow in History, John Locke Institute
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Dr Davies is Distinguished Fellow in History at the John Locke Institute. He is the author of Empiricism and History, The Economics and Politics of Brexit, and The Wealth Explosion: the Nature and Origins of Modernity.
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Generations of John Locke students have tried to discover a subject about which Dr Davies possesses only a limited knowledge, but so far all have failed.
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PROFESSOR PETER JAWORSKY
Georgetown University
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Professor Jaworski teaches Ethical Values of Business to undergraduates and Ethical Leadership to MBA students at Georgetown University in Washington DC. His work has been published in Ethics, Philosophical Studies, The Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, The Journal of Business Ethics, The Journal of Value Inquiry, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice.
He is co-author, with Jason Brennan, of Markets without Limits: Moral Virtues and Commercial Interests.
DR. VANESSA BURNS
Leverhulme Fellow, University of Sheffield
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Dr Burns is a human environmental geographer with expertise in the governance of adaptation to climate change, who is working on projects across Europe and Africa. She was a lecturer at Stanford University before taking up her current role.
Dr. Burns holds a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford.
WHAT STUDENTS SAY
An excellent teacher, David Friedman helps fully develop your intellectual capabilities. He cares a great deal about his students.
Dr. Filling has changed how I view relationships among people, governments, and other entities.
Robin Hanson, one of the most interesting professors I have ever met, challenged my beliefs during precepts and at dinner.
CAPRI MANCINI
SEAN SINANAN
CHARLOTTE BAXENDALE
ALISON LIU
It was an honour to be taught by Alan Ryan; he was extremely helpful on the Oxbridge admissions process.
Atlas Network
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Dr Palmer is Chairman of the Board of Fellows at the John Locke Institute, Executive Vice President for International Programmes at the Atlas Network, and Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. Author or editor of seven books, he has published in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Foreign Policy, Ethics, Critical Review, Global Policy, Eurasia Review, and Constitutional Political Economy, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Die Welt, Caixing, Al Hayat, Boston Review, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and The Spectator. He has a D.Phil. in Politics from Hertford College, University of Oxford.
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George Mason University
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Professor Caplan is a professor of economics at George Mason University, a research fellow at the Mercatus Center, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and a former contributor to the Freakonomics blog; he also publishes his own blog, EconLog. He is a self-described “economic libertarian”.
University of Oxford
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Professor Ryan was Warden of New College, Oxford, professor of politics at Princeton University and professor of philosophy at Stanford. He is the author of eleven books, including the authoritative On Politics.
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University of Arizona
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Prof. Schmidtz is an acclaimed political philosopher who serves as the Kendrick Professor of Philosophy at the University of Arizona. He is editor-in-chief of the journal Social Philosophy and Policy.
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George Mason University
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Professor Hanson teaches law and economics at George Mason, and is a research associate at Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute. He received a B.S. in physics from UC Irvine, an M.S. in physics and an M.A. in Conceptual Foundations of Science from Chicago, and a Ph.D. in social science from Caltech. He is the author of The Elephant in the Brain, The Age of Em, and overcomingbias.com.
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George Mason University
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Steven E. Landsburg is a professor of economics at the University of Rochester. He is the author of Can You Outsmart an Economist?, The Big Questions, More Sex is Safer Sex, Fair Play, The Armchair Economist, two textbooks on economics, and over 30 journal articles in mathematics, economics and philosophy. He has written regularly for Forbes and Slate and occasionally for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and other publications.
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Professor David Friedman
Santa Clara University
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Professor Friedman is a professor of law at Santa Clara University in California. He received his PhD from the University of Chicago. Professor Friedman has written many seminal books, including The Machinery of Freedom and Law’s Order.
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European Parliament
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Mr Carswell was a British Member of Parliament from 2005 to 2017 who in 2014 became the first elected MP for the UK Independence Party (UKIP), representing Clacton. From March 2017 to May 2017, he sat as an independent.
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George Mason University
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Professor Somin is a law professor at George Mason University, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, a blogger for the Volokh Conspiracy, and a former co-editor of the Supreme Court Economic Review. His research focuses on constitutional law, property law, migration rights, and the study of popular political participation and its implications for constitutional democracy.
MR MARTIN COX
Director
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Mr Cox is the Director of the John Locke Institute. British by birth, he grew up in Jamaica, Australia, and the United States. Mr Cox began his career working for an Australian investment bank before becoming a founder-CEO of start-ups in Australia, Britain and the United States. He holds an honours degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University, where he subsequently taught macroeconomics.
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MR ROBIN KOERNER
Academic Dean
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Mr Koerner is the John Locke Institute’s Academic Dean. He holds an M.A. and an M.Phil. in Physics and Philosophy of Science from Cambridge University and is a prolific public speaker, author, and consultant. He founded WatchingAmerica.com, an organization of over a hundred volunteers, which translates foreign commentary and opinion about the USA from mainstream media all over the world. He is the author of “If You Can Keep It”.
