Letter From Condoleezza Rice:
Dear Friend,
I am writing this letter to express my heartfelt gratitude for your generous support of the Hoover Institution and to provide you with an update on the leading work carried out by our scholars on the most pressing policy challenges of our time. The major research initiatives underway here at Hoover are bringing thoughtful, research-driven ideas and analysis to the topics most in need of them today–from technological change to a lack of trust facing our democratic institutions–to the audiences most in need of them.
In January, we launched the Stanford Emerging Technology Review in the nation’s capital. This university-wide project with an accompanying report, spearheaded by the Hoover Institution and the Stanford School of Engineering, with Dean Jennifer Widom, combines the research prowess of leading Stanford scientists and engineers with the policy expertise of Hoover fellows to guide policymakers through the developments in frontier technologies that are shaping our world. My colleagues and I briefed leaders on Capitol Hill and in the defense and intelligence communities, as well as cabinet-level officials, about the project’s vision and insights. In April, Hoover convened key decision makers for a conference on frameworks for ensuring safety in artificial intelligence. Our scholars, together with heads of the US and the UK Al Satery lnstitutes, 2018 Turing Prize winner Yoshua Bengio, and tech leaders, considered policy measures and explored implications of a technology chat is rapidly transforming the world.
Our nation’s founders crafted a set of institutions that have allowed our country to prosper and have advanced the individual freedom of our citizens at home and others abroad. To address modern challenges and opportunities across our government and society, we must ensure these institutions remain stable, resilient, adaptive to change, and responsive to citizens. Hoover’s new Center for Revitalizing American Institutions (RAI), the first center at the Hoover Institution, convenes experts to generate policy solutions toward maintaining a flourishing and prosperous democratic society. Over the last six months, RAI has held major conferences on election misinformation, public pension reforms, and civics education.
At our Winter Board of Overseers Meeting at Hoover in February, we unveiled the George P. Shultz Building, a new space for convening scholars, fostering interdisciplinary research, and preserving historical materials collected by our Library & Archives. George was always keen on the idea that Hoover is a place where ideas could be moved into action. He demonstrated this commitment with a tangible investment of time and effort for three decades at Hoover, where he convened our scholars with policy practitioners for timely exchanges of ideas on consequential issues of the time.
In that spirit, the Hoover Institution regularly hosts heads of state, as well as leaders from the US Congress, the executive branch, and state and local governments. This year, we served as the forum of choice for visitors from leaders from Japan, South Korea, and Argentina. In January, the Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue brought together representatives from Australia, Canada, India, and Japan to discuss maritime claims and threats in the Indo-Pacific region. In May, we hosted scholars and central bank officials from across the world for a global focus during our annual Monetary Policy Conference.
Our Congressional Fellowship Program regularly brings Capitol Hill staffers to Hoover for in-depth briefings on topics including inflation, government debt, China’s global ambition, and conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. We also continue to expand our policy research to studying governance at the state and local levels, where institutions are closer to the people. In May, we gathered gubernatorial chiefs of staff for the third annual State and Local Leadership Forum, addressing election system safeguards, the condition of federal and state budgets, and state-level governance of speech, among other topics.
I am pleased to announce that Steven Davis will become Hoover’s new director of research on July 1, succeeding Dan Kessler, who has served admirably over the last four years and helped recruit fourteen new senior fellows during his tenure. Davis is an influential economist, and his extensive scholarship and depth of experience will bring valuable leadership to the institution’s research efforts.
Hoover continues to recruit leading academics. Recently, we welcomed First Amendment scholar Eugene Volokh, global affairs expert Philip Zelikow, and economists Valerie Ramey and Ross Levine to the fellowship. We also continue to support a rising generation of scholars. Over the past year, for example, Jacquelyn Schneider has conducted pioneering research on wargaming, while Brett Carter and Erin Baggott Carter have published groundbreaking survey data suggesting that the Chinese Communist Party is not nearly as popular among ordinary Chinese citizens as was previously believed.
As Americans face an important election this November, the Hoover Institution is offering online resources and monthly newsletters highlighting scholars’ research-based insights on inflation, AI and other frontier technologies, conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, competition with China, and key issues affecting our democracy.
All this work is possible only due to your continued generosity. It is because of you that our scholars can continue to generate research that leads to a freer and more prosperous America, and a safer, more secure world.
Sincerely,
Condoleezza Rice
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