Jennifer Burns, Hoover Research Fellow and Associate Professor of History at Stanford, presented “The Last Conservative: The Lives and Times of Milton Friedman,” where she discussed a chapter of her new biography of Milton Friedman, arguably Hoover’s most famous economist.  Burns is a historian of the twentieth-century US who focuses on the intersection of intellectual, political, and cultural history.

She has a particular interest in the evolution of American conservatism, having also written a life of Ayn Rand. She also organized the Library & Archives workshop on Political Economy, which invited researchers from diverse fields to study the history of economic through the archives of notable thinkers such as Friedman and Friedrich A. Hayek.
 


ABOUT THE PROGRAM

This talk is part of the History Working Group Seminar Series. A central piece of the History Working Group is the seminar series, which is hosted in partnership with the Hoover Library & Archives. The seminar series was launched in the fall of 2019, and thus far has included six talks from Hoover research fellows, visiting scholars, and Stanford faculty. The seminars provide outside experts with an opportunity to present their research and receive feedback on their work. While the lunch seminars have grown in reputation, they have been purposefully kept small in order to ensure that the discussion retains a good seminar atmosphere.

Upcoming Events

Thursday, January 22, 2026
Immigration Conference 2026
Immigration Policy And The Economics Of Innovation
This conference will explore the critical intersection of immigration policy and technological innovation in the United States, with a particular…
Thursday, January 22, 2026
Ideas Uncorked
Where Politics Meets Policy: Health Care and the 2026 Midterm Elections
The Hoover Institution in DC hosts Ideas Uncorked: Where Politics Meets Policy: Health Care and the 2026 Midterm Elections on Thursday, January 22 … Hoover Institution in DC
Thursday, January 29, 2026
Insights From The 2025 US-China Economic And Security Review Commission Report: Findings And Recommendations
The Hoover Institution Program on the US, China, and the World invites you to Insights from the 2025 US-China Economic and Security Review Commission… Shultz Auditorium, George P. Shultz Building
overlay image