How Ideas Move Into the World

Find and Develop Talent

IHS identifies scholars at the moment when investment matters most: graduate students, early-career faculty, and policy thinkers still forming their research agenda. We equip them with the funding, networks, tools, and partnerships they need to reach the rooms where consequential decisions get made.

Build the Field

Individual scholars need intellectual infrastructure to have lasting impact. IHS convenes researchers around underdeveloped questions, funds targeted research, and connects work across disciplines, so that when a consequential moment arrives, the scholarship is already there.

Put Ideas to Work

A good idea that never reaches beyond the academy doesn't change anything. IHS connects scholars to the practitioners, coalitions, and institutions positioned to carry their work into regulatory proceedings, legislative debates, and public discourse.

Accelerate Influence

As scholars advance in their careers, launch new programs, and take on leadership roles, IHS is there. We offer research funding, tools, connections, undergraduate program support, and partnerships that accelerate their growth and impact.

From Hair Braiding to Health Care: Alicia Plemmons and Arbitrary Licensing Rules

Case Studies

Alicia Plemmons: Fighting Licensing Barriers with Better Data

Why does it take longer to become a hair braider than a police officer? This question and others prompted Alicia to challenge licensing rules.

Breaking the Politics Spectrum: Verlan Lewis on Freedom, Pluralism, and Narrative

Verlan Lewis: Beyond Left vs. Right

Verlan Lewis urges students to treat politics as plural, with many issues, many trade-offs, and many opportunities for humility.

Jean Vilbert: The Young Judge Who Chose Dignity Over Security

Jean Vilbert: Choosing Dignity Over Security

What made Jean Vilbert a successful judge also made him sensitive to what he’d surrendered: the freedom to ask certain questions.

Answers Across the Street: How Daniel J. Smith Found and Fought for Freedom

Daniel J. Smith: Finding and Fighting for Freedom

When asked what keeps him doing this after so many controversies, Dan answered, "Because we have to make progress on these vexing issues.”

How Lauren Hall Became a Voice for Radical Moderation

Lauren Hall: The Case for Radical Moderation

Lauren Hall saw how systems built on good intentions can miss the human reality right in front of them. What does genuine progress require?

A Jolt of Freedom: Paula Ganga’s Discovery of Ideas as Living Things

Paula Ganga: A Jolt of Freedom (and Ideas That Stay Alive)

From post-dictatorship Romania to the classroom, Paula Ganga’s journey explores the moral foundations of freedom and why ideas still matter.

The Soviet-Born Scholar Who Took on Trump’s Tariffs

Ilya Somin: The Soviet-Born Scholar Taking On Trump's Tariffs

Somin's story is a reminder that freedom is fragile, but worth defending—in classrooms, in courts, and in everyday life.

Support the Work

Your financial support sustains the scholars and institutions that carry liberal principles into classrooms, lawmaking, and public life.