Today the Steamboat Institute announced the selection of Jillian Melchior as the 2015-16 Fellow for the Tony Blankley Chair for Public Policy and American Exceptionalism. Tom Rogan, the 2014-15 Fellow, will become a Senior Fellow.
“Jillian’s impressive work as a journalist is a fitting tribute to Tony Blankley’s legacy and we look forward to collaborating with her,” said Jennifer Schubert-Akin, Chairman and CEO of the Steamboat Institute. “Her reporting from around the globe exemplifies the determination, character and wit that made Tony so special.”
Melchior will be honored at a dinner as part of the Steamboat Institute’s 7th Annual Freedom Conference in Steamboat Springs, Colo. on August 28, 2015.
“I am honored to join the Steamboat Institute as its second Tony Blankley Chair,” Melchior said. “The fellowship’s namesake defended America’s most important values with nuance, verve and humor–a legacy that still thrives today at the Steamboat Institute. I’m deeply thankful for this opportunity and look forward to a productive year ahead.”
In addition to naming Melchior as the 2015-16 Fellow, the previous Fellow, Tom Rogan, will continue to work with the Steamboat Institute in a new role as Senior Fellow.
“Tom’s leadership as the inaugural Tony Blankley Fellow has been critical to the program’s success,” Schubert-Akin said. “As the trailblazer for this endeavor, we wanted to honor his contributions by naming him our Senior Fellow.”
”I’m deeply honored to have the opportunity to join the Steamboat Institute as the Senior Fellow,” Rogan said. “Serving as the Tony Blankley Chair for the past year has been profoundly rewarding. Tony’s life encapsulates the Steamboat Institute’s defining values – patriotism, intellectual rigor and an abiding commitment to the founding ideals that make America so exceptional. I can think of no better successor than Jillian Melchior, one of America’s top conservative reporters.”
About Jillian Melchior
Jillian Melchior writes for National Review, and currently also serves as a fellow for the Franklin Center and Independent Women’s Forum. She does investigative reporting on domestic issues, including government waste, fraud and abuse, energy and environment issues, and organized labor. She has lived in China, reporting on Christianity and persecution, and has also done foreign correspondence in Iraq, Ukraine, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and elsewhere. She has worked as an editorial writer for The Daily, an online editor for Commentary, a Robert Novak fellow, and a Bartley Fellow at the Wall Street Journal Asia. Her writings have been published in National Review, The Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan, The New York Post, The Weekly Standard, Commentary, TechCrunch, The Detroit News and other publications. She is a graduate of Hillsdale College and a native of Cheyenne, Wyoming.
About Tom Rogan
In 2014, Tom Rogan was the recipient of the inaugural Tony Blankley Chair for Public Policy and American Exceptionalism. Mr. Rogan is a columnist for National Review and The Daily Telegraph and is a TV/radio media contributor, providing commentary on U.S. domestic politics/foreign policy to various media outlets, including The McLaughlin Group, Real Time with Bill Maher, Fox News, CNN, Newsmax TV, BBC News and many others. He is an honors graduate of King’s College of London (War Studies) and a graduate of the law program at The College of Law, London.
About the Tony Blankley Chair for Public Policy and American Exceptionalism
(1948-2012)
The Tony Blankley Chair for Public Policy and American Exceptionalism was established by the Steamboat Institute to provide high-profile recognition and financial support to emerging conservative thought leaders who share the principles and ideals espoused by the late Tony Blankley and the Steamboat Institute. Those principles are lower taxes, limited government, free market capitalism, individual rights and responsibilities, and strong national defense.
Selection Committee members for the Tony Blankley Chair include:
- Lynda C. Davis, Ph.D.
- Edwin Meese – 75th Attorney General of the United States
- Steven Hofman – Consultant; Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor
- Lauren Maddox – Principal, Podesta Group; Former Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Education
- Thomas P. McDevitt – Chairman, Board of Directors, The Washington Times
- John O’Sullivan – British commentator and former speechwriter for Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
- John Roberts – Author and television producer for The McLaughlin Group; veteran of the Reagan White House
About the Steamboat Institute
Tony Blankley served as Conference Moderator for the Steamboat Institute’s first three Freedom Conferences (2009-2011). The Steamboat Institute is a Colorado-based non-profit, non-partisan organization, whose mission is “to educate the public on the founding principles of the United States, and to inspire people to be actively involved in their implementation.”
Find out more information about the Steamboat Institute, the Tony Blankley Chair and the 7th Annual Freedom Conference.