Carl Barney is an entrepreneur, writer, and philanthropist. He is the founder and funder of Prometheus Foundation (previously called the Objectivist Venture Fund), a nonprofit dedicated to providing seed money for individuals and organizations who promote Ayn Rand and advance her philosophy, Objectivism. He has served on the boards of the Ayn Rand Institute, Cato Institute, and the Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism. He’s currently writing a book titled “The Happiness Experiment,” and he blogs about “love of the good for being good” at CarlBarney.com.
Program: AI and the Future of Higher Education
Andrew Bernstein holds a PhD in philosophy from the Graduate School of the City University of New York and taught philosophy for many years at Marist College. He is the author of Heroes, Legends, Champions: Why Heroism Matters (2020), Capitalism Unbound: The Incontestable Moral Case for Individual Rights (2010), Capitalist Solutions (2011), and Why Johnny Still Can’t Read or Write or Understand Math: And What We Can Do About It (2022).
Program: Judging the West: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful
Craig Biddle is cofounder and executive director of Objective Standard Institute, cofounder and editor in chief of The Objective Standard, and executive director of Prometheus Foundation. His books include Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It; Rational Egoism: The Morality for Human Flourishing; and the forthcoming Forbidden Facts: Moral Truths Your Parents, Preachers, and Teachers Don’t Want You to Know. His book-in-progress is on thinking in principles.
Program: Thinking Tools for Loving Life
Formerly an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Marymount Manhattan College, Carrie-Ann Biondi is currently an independent scholar, editor, and educator. She works as Production Editor at Social Philosophy & Policy and serves as Book Review Editor at Reason Papers. She holds a B.A. and M.A. in American Studies and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy and has twenty-five years of experience teaching philosophy at the college level (1994-2019). She then worked as an adolescent program manager at Higher Ground Education (2019-2022), during which time she developed high school humanities curriculum, guided high school students in humanities courses, and earned a Montessori Adolescent Teaching Certification. Her research interests and publications range from Aristotle, Ayn Rand, citizenship, and virtue ethics to Socratic pedagogy and popular culture.
Program: Aristotle and Ayn Rand on the Nature and Art of Friendship
Jon Hersey is a fellow at Objective Standard Institute, where he teaches courses including “How to Write Powerfully in Defense of Liberty” and hosts the podcast “Philosophy for Flourishing.” He is also managing editor of The Objective Standard. His work focuses on intellectual history, specifically, the ideas on which freedom and flourishing depend.
Program: Hit Play: How to Find Music that Enhances Your Life
Ely Lassman is founder and chair of Prometheus on Campus, a UK-based educational nonprofit focused on promoting philosophy for freedom and happiness; and quality assurance manager for Prometheus Foundation, for which he audits programs, leads study groups, and teaches philosophy. He earned his degree in economics from University of Bristol, where he also founded the UoB Liberty Society.
Program: AI and Philosophy: Flourishing in Our New Age
Angelica is a fellow at Objective Standard Institute, an assistant editor and writer for The Objective Standard, and an Ayn Rand Fellow with Foundation for Economic Education’s Hazlitt Project. Her roles at OSI include managing the junior fellowship and LevelUp scholarship programs, course administration and development, and mentoring. She is a voracious reader of fiction in her spare time, and writes about the ideas in fictional works at fictionosophy.substack.com.
Program: Fiction as Soul-Fuel: Why Stories Move Us
Thomas Walker-Werth is associate editor at The Objective Standard and a fellow at both Objective Standard Institute and Foundation for Economic Education. He is currently writing his first full-length book, Reason for Living: A Rational, Fact-Based Approach to Living Your Best Life.
Program: Facts and Myths About Independence, and Heroes of Innovation and Progress (with Jason Bateman)
Kiyah Willis is a fellow at Objective Standard Institute focusing on cultural trends and their causes and consequences. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kiyah worked as a data analyst before transitioning to philosophy. Her hobbies include hiking, playing with her boxer, Apollo, and writing for her Substack. You can find her advocating reason, individualism, and liberty on X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok (@growingtotruth).
Program: Liberalism vs. Nationalism: An Individualist Perspective