American higher education has long been marked by its openness — openness to people of different backgrounds bringing forward different ideas, backed by evidence. This openness inevitably yields a natural tension between new ideas and established orthodoxies. Healthy societies harness this tension because doing so can drive learning, creativity, and innovation not just for students, … Continued
How can society prepare more people to find fulfilling work in a rapidly changing economy? That is the broad question Charles Koch Foundation (CKF) Executive Director Ryan Stowers tackled on two recent podcasts. The current system is not working for most people, Stowers said. With Ramona Schindelheim on Work in Progress, a WorkingNation podcast, Stowers noted that, … Continued
Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH, is a social scientist and physician at Yale University who conducts research in the fields of network science, biosocial science, and behavior genetics. His current work focuses on how human biology and health are affected by social interactions and social networks. He directs the Human Nature Lab and is the co-director … Continued
On October 27, the Charles Koch Foundation (CKF) sponsored an Axios “New Era of Learning” conversation. During the half hour event, business reporter Erica Pandey, Guild Education CEO Rachel Carlson and Education Design Lab CEO Kathleen deLaski unpacked the future of learning, postsecondary education innovation, and career readiness after COVID-19. Pandey asked speakers how the concept of the traditional … Continued
The polarization of religious freedom and its manifestation in religious divides between conservative white Protestants and Muslims offers important lessons about the benefits of openness to progress. My experiences have shown me that change is possible if we simply take the time to acknowledge the other side’s hurt as real and maybe even legitimate. Importantly, we … Continued
“The World’s Turned Upside Down” is not just a memorable song from the hit musical “Hamilton,” but rather the general consensus of nearly all who have been paying attention to national and global goings-on the past two years. “There’s a lot going right now” is, quite easily, the understatement of the century. From a global … Continued
It has been estimated that upwards of 30 percent of U.S. healthcare spending is on care or services that is inappropriate or wasteful while at the same time many patients don’t get access to the care they need. Over the last 12 years, the University of Southern California’s Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health … Continued
Universities have become the frontlines of the American culture wars, with both the political left and right policing which ideas can and cannot be discussed. When a University San Diego (USD) law professor supported an unpopular but credible theory related to the source of COVID-19, the USD administration launched an investigation. At the University of … Continued
In my 16 years at the Charles Koch Foundation, I have had the pleasure of working with—and being inspired by—some of the best minds in the world. These people share a common calling: to discover solutions that help empower people to transform and improve their lives. This calling also represents a core ingredient of human … Continued
For decades, George Mason University’s Economics Department and the Mercatus Center have put theory into practice and bet on the unconventional — with impressive results. As the world needed scientific solutions to combat COVID-19, Tyler Cowen, a George Mason University economics professor, saw a problem that demanded urgent attention. Scientists desperately needed money — money that was agile, quick, and responsive to the needs of researchers. So, he helped in the creation of Fast Grants, an effort based … Continued
