The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) is pleased to announce a landmark endowment of $1 million to advance and support the TFAS Public Policy Fellowship, which for 15 years has provided professional and academic development to more than 250 of our nation’s rising leaders.
The existing Fellowship will be renamed the Woodhouse Public Policy Fellowship in honor of a gift by Marilyn Woodhouse of Houston, Texas. The Woodhouse Fellowship will continue the legacy of TFAS’s annual leadership and educational program designed to develop young leaders in Washington, D.C., who share a commitment to improving public policy.
Woodhouse Fellows will read primary texts by thinkers like F.A. Hayek, Russell Kirk, and Frank Meyer; participate in monthly dinner conversations with other young leaders; attend regular speaker events with public policy experts, academics, and political leaders; and participate in weekend retreats on the roots of American political thought. Past Fellowship faculty and speakers included leaders from The Heritage Foundation, The Federalist Society, the American Enterprise Institute, Reason magazine, and the American Institute for Economic Research.
Since 2007, the Fellowship has provided educational programming and leadership development training to more than 250 young professionals living in the D.C. area who share a desire to influence public policy through careers in government, journalism, advocacy, and the private sector. The 2024-25 Fellowship promises to be the most selective and prestigious program so far.
TFAS is profoundly grateful for Woodhouse’s support. The funds will be utilized to enhance the Fellowship by providing additional resources for academic retreats, networking events, curriculum development and administrative costs.
“We are grateful to Marilyn and her late husband John for their generous financial support of the new Woodhouse Public Policy Fellowship,” said TFAS president Roger Ream ’76. “This gift will allow TFAS to offer our transformational programming to many more young professionals who will advance the ideas of individual liberty, personal responsibility, and economic freedom for years to come.”
Kayla Bartsch ’23, a William F. Buckley, Jr. fellow in political journalism at National Review and 2023-24 Public Policy Fellow, says the programming is unlike other professional development programs and called the program’s fall retreat at the Russell Kirk Center in Mecosta, Michigan, the “intellectual highlight” of her year.
“My experience at TFAS has grounded me in the American conservative tradition as no other program or curriculum has,” Bartsch said. “The program has encouraged me to keep writing and opened the door to new platforms for my voice.”
The Fellowship runs annually on an academic calendar from September to May. Applications will open in early summer. To learn more about the program, visit TFAS.org/PPF.