We are thrilled to announce the biggest news in our decade-long history! These three updates are the building blocks in the next era of JWI, what we like to call JWI 2.0.  

 JWI receives the largest grant in the organization's history:  $1.4 million

Earlier this summer, the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation (DDSF), one of the most significant foundations in the philanthropic world, approved a game-changing grant to JWI. This grant will not only allow JWI to double its programs, double its staff, and double the reach of our mission to teach the next generation but represents the Foundation's belief in the importance of JWI's work.

As Abby Spencer Moffatt, DDSF's President & CEO, said at our First Leadership & the Law Awards Dinner, "The James Wilson Institute is the conscience of the conservative legal movement." We are inspired by the immense confidence that DDSF has placed in the future vision of JWI 2.0 and humbled by DDSF's generosity.

"This grant and the support of the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation mark, as perhaps no other organization quite could, a real turning point for this project. This is an opportunity for us to do more than we ever could before and for this project to become truly enduring. We are immensely grateful to the Foundation for this vote of confidence—and for their sense of where this mission of ours stands now in the landscape of our jurisprudence."

- Hadley Arkes, JWI Founder and Director

Judge Janice Rogers Brown Joins the Board of Trustees

In 2023, Judge Janice Rogers Brown, formerly of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, joined our Board of Trustees. Judge Brown's appointment to the Board marks the first time a member of the Board hails from the judiciary and the first time a former regular attendee of the JWI Senior Seminar joins the Board. Her distinguished biography may be found here, along with the other members of the JWI Board. Among Judge Brown's many accolades, including being the recipient of the 2019 Bradley Prize, she received our second Leadership & the Law Award earlier this year, offering a stirring set of remarks you may watch here.

"Judge Brown's distinguished career has been marked by her dedication to the truth and the bravery to follow through on that dedication. We're glad to welcome her to the JWI Board and look forward to working side-by-side with her in our mission to restore the Founder's way of understanding and teaching the law."

- Doug Neff, Chairman, JWI Board of Trustees

Senior Scholar & Trustee Prof. Gerard Bradley Becomes Co-Director of JWI

As of July, Prof. Gerard "Gerry" Bradley has assumed the role of Co-Director of JWI alongside JWI Founder & Director Hadley Arkes. Prof. Bradley, who spent more than thirty years as a renowned professor at Notre Dame Law School and the University of Illinois Law School, was Prof. Arkes's first choice when considering figures to join him. In 2021, Prof. Bradley joined the JWI Board of Trustees and joined the faculty of the James Wilson Fellowship. He has already woven himself into the programmatic and strategic planning of JWI, and his advent as C0-Director only heralds more significant contributions to the furtherance of JWI's mission to restore a jurisprudence of Natural Law to our constitutional order.

"Gerry Bradley joins JWI now at a key moment and we are excited to work alongside him. His scholarship and deep understanding of Natural Law make him an ideal partner for our Founder and Director in the mission of JWI to restore the moral roots of our law."

- Michael Maibach, JWI Managing Director