James Piereson is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute where he writes and conducts research on philanthropy, higher education, and current political controversies. He is also a trustee of the Thomas W. Smith Foundation which supports individuals and institutions in support of individual liberty, free markets, and the rule of law. He was formerly trustee and executive director of the John M. Olin Foundation from 1985 to 2005 and President of the William E. Simon Foundation from 2006 to 2023. Both foundations, on instructions from their donors, spent all of their assets on deserving programs, and closed their doors. Jim is the author of several books including Camelot and the Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered American Liberalism (Encounter Books, 2007), and numerous articles that have appeared in leading publications. He is a trustee of other tax-exempt organizations, including the Pinkerton Foundation and the Foundation for Cultural Review. He is a past trustee of Donors Trust, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, the Philanthropy Roundtable, the Center for Individual Rights, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, among others. Jim earned a BA (1968) and a PhD (1973) in political science from Michigan State University. He lives in the New York City area with his wife Patricia. They have an adult son, a lawyer in Boston.
