Hoover Institution (Stanford, CA) – The Hoover Institution hosted its annual summer board of overseers meeting on Tuesday, July 13 and Wednesday, July 14. This is the second year the board meeting has been held virtually due to COVID-19 safety protocols still in place on the Stanford University campus. In addition to committee meetings, the Hoover Institution invited board members to attend sessions in which scholars, government officials, and media professionals provided in-depth analysis of timely national policy issues.
On Tuesday morning, following opening remarks by Hoover Institution Director Condoleezza Rice and Deputy Director Eric Wakin, Hoover scholars Josh Rauh and Stephen Haber discussed their partnership with the Alabama Innovation Commission on developing solutions about how the state can best recruit and retain companies, develop highly skilled labor, help finance startups, and construct hubs for scientific and technology innovation. The conversation also featured students who were selected to collaborate on research with fellows in the initiative’s policy lab, including Mackenzie Findlay of Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, and Jordan Windham and Trey Sims of Auburn University.
That afternoon, John B. Taylor and John F. Cogan talked about America’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and charting the nation’s path toward stable and sustainable economic growth.
On Wednesday morning, board members were given a choice to attend three distinct breakout sessions featuring Hoover fellows. Senior Fellows H.R. McMaster and Russell Berman assessed the Biden administration’s Middle East policy; Distinguished Visiting Fellow David Mulford reported on the Hoover Institution’s US-India initiative, which explores strategies to strengthen the relationship between both countries to bring about mutual security and prosperity; and Senior Fellow Darrell Duffie reported on his work for a Hoover program focused on China’s ambitions to advance globally their digital currency and electronic payments systems.
Later Wednesday morning, Senior Fellow Lee Ohanian moderated a panel of three American mayors: Francis Suarez of Miami, Florida; Greg Fischer of Louisville, Kentucky; and Mattie Parker of Fort Worth, Texas. The subject of the conversation was how the policies that each city government adopted created favorable conditions for their respective economies to thrive.
The final discussion, moderated by Rice, was about the state of the media and its influence in politics, with specific insights on the debate over “cancel culture” and the future of conservative thought. Panelists included Kimberley Strassel, Wall Street Journal columnist and Fox News contributor; Byron York, chief political correspondent for the Washington Examiner; and Ben Shapiro, host of The Ben Shapiro Show, editor emeritus for the Daily Wire, and also a Fox News contributor.
For more information on Hoover fellows and initiatives, visit Hoover.org.
