The Hoover Institution in Washington, the Institution’s education and outreach arm located blocks from the White House, provides Hoover fellows with a platform for national policy discussions and serves as one of Washington’s preeminent information centers.
In 2019 Hoover in Washington hosted numerous Capitol Hill briefings and four congressional staff delegations to Stanford University, and ushered in the inaugural Economic Congressional Fellowship, educating some 750 staffers along the way. In addition, there were multiple public events in the Washington office and throughout the Beltway. Here are the top ten engagements of 2019.
#1 Have We Closed the Socioeconomic Achievement Gaps?
Hoover senior fellow Eric Hanushek hosted a conference in the Hoover Washington office about a new study released by Education Next on nearly 50 years of student performance data in math, reading, and science to examine whether the socioeconomic achievement gaps have widened, narrowed, or persisted.
#2 Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency
Democracy expert and Hoover Institution senior fellow Larry Diamond presented on his newly released book Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency to journalists and policy makers at Hoover’s Washington office.
The Hoover Washington office hosted Hoover Institution senior fellow Victor Davis Hanson for a discussion on his book The Case for Trump. Hanson explained how a celebrity businessman with no political or military experience triumphed over Republican and Democratic presidential candidates, a hostile media, and the Washington establishment to become president of the United States.
Hoover senior fellow Amy Zegart and research fellow Herb Lin toured Washington in January to engage with policy makers, military officials, academics, and media on their groundbreaking scholarly book Bytes, Bombs, and Spies: The Strategic Dimensions of Offensive Cyber Operations.
#5 Proposals to Achieve Universal Healthcare Coverage
Hoover senior fellow Scott Atlas testified to the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health in the House of Representatives on health-care coverage.
#6 Economic Fellowship Program
The Hoover Institution conducted the inaugural Economic Fellowship Program for congressional staff. This program commenced in Spring 2019 with a series of trainings on economic policy on Capitol Hill with Hoover fellows Michael Boskin, Charles Calomiris, Chester Finn, Stephen Haber, and Russ Roberts. Congressional fellows who successfully completed the first phase of the program were hosted at Stanford in August for additional policy briefings from Hoover fellows.
#7 Fouad Ajami Fellowship Lecture
Held annually in the Hoover Washington office, the Fouad Ajami Lecture celebrates the life of the deceased Hoover senior fellow Fouad Ajami. The lecture series focuses on topics related to US policy in the Middle East. This year’s lecture, “Global Foreign Policy Challenges and Opportunities” was given by former national security adviser Stephen Hadley, in conversation with Elise Labott.
As part of the Hoover Institution’s National Security and Technology Congressional Briefing Series, Hoover senior fellow Jack Goldsmith presented a discussion on Capitol Hill of how the internet, relatively unregulated in the United States, is being used for ill to a point that threatens basic American institutions.
#9 CyberWork and the American Dream
Hoover senior fellow Elizabeth Cobbs hosted a special Capitol Hill screening for congressional staff of her PBS film CyberWork and the American Dream, a documentary on the impacts of robotics and artificial intelligence on the future of work.
#10 Digital Deception: Deepfakes, Manipulated Media, and the Uncertain Future of Truth
As part of the Hoover Institution’s National Security and Technology Congressional Briefing Series, Hoover senior fellow John Villasenor presented a discussion on Capitol Hill of how the beneficial uses of artificial intelligence can be misused to create highly realistic videos of people saying or doing things they never did, and how this technology can influence American elections.
