B.A., English Literature, Columbia University (Columbia College)
M.A., University of Oxford (Lincoln College)
LL.M., University of Pennsylvania Law School

Professional Background
Tom began his career as a corporate lawyer and financial advisor. Since 2007, he has worked as a securities regulator at FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority), where he has chaired and held leadership roles in several employee resource groups focused on disability, wellness, military, interfaith, and intergenerational initiatives.

Service & Leadership
Vice Chair, Maryland State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
President, American Jujitsu Association
Board Member, Oxford University Society (DC)
Murray Society Steering Committee, Lincoln College, Oxford
Volunteer, Junior Achievement and SIFMA

Publications & Activities
His essays and reviews have appeared in The American Conservative, Baltimore Post-Examiner, Mensa Bulletin, Modern American Poetry, and NAS publications. He has mentored students, interviewed applicants, judged national essay competitions, and taught financial literacy courses.

Vice President Robert Lyon is a public member of the NAS. Membership in the Maryland Association of Scholars is Rob’s first foray into higher education issues—his past efforts have focused on helping upper elementary school teachers teach history and civics. Reading President Peter Wood’s book 1620, A Critical Response to the 1619 Project was the catalyst for this move.

Mr. Lyon has been involved in education initiatives since 2011. His projects have included organizing workshops for social science teachers in Maryland and Virginia. He also helped to create America’s Founding Era Education Forum (AFEEF), an organization of almost 40 cultural, educational, hereditary, historical, and patriotic member organizations concerned about the challenges educators face teaching American history.AFEEF’s mission is to provide educators with quick and easy access to resources on its website that offer thorough and accurate content about the history of America’s Founding Era (1607–1788). 

B.A., magna cum laude, Hanover College
M.A., Yale University
Ph.D., Yale University

Academic Career
Emeritus Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at:
University of Maryland Baltimore County
University of Maryland Graduate School, Baltimore

Former Director of the Columbia University Teachers College Graduate Program in Politics and Education.
Has taught at American University, University of Chicago, University of Miami, and University of Strasbourg (France).

Research & Publications
Specializes in education law, civil rights law, and public policy.
Author of six books, including:
Silenced Stages: The Loss of Academic Freedom and Campus Policy Debates (2019)
Academics in Court: The Consequences of Academic Discrimination Litigation (1987)

Recipient of Woodrow Wilson, Danforth, and Public Administration fellowships.

B.A., Political Science, University of Alberta
M.A., Political Science, University of Alberta
Ph.D., Political Science, Boston College

Professional Background
Former Director of Higher Education Reform at America’s First Policy Institute.
Former Vice President of Academic Affairs, American Council of Trustees and Alumni.
Associate Professor of Political Science and Program Coordinator at Morehead State University (10 years).
Served as elected Faculty Regent (2017–2019).

B.A., University of Texas
Ph.D., Princeton University

Joseph Prud’homme is the Burton Family Chair in Religion, Politics, and Culture and Associate Professor of Political Science at Washington College in Chestertown, MD. During his doctoral studies at Princeton, he specialized in political philosophy, constitutional law, and religion.

Professor Prud’homme’s books include Religion and Politics in America from the Colonial Period to the Civil War; Curriculum and the Culture Wars: Debating the Bible’s Place in Public Schools (with Melissa Deckman of Washington College); State Religious Education and the State of Religious Life (with Liam Gearon of Oxford); and the chapter “Religion and Education” in the Palgrave Handbook on Religion and the State.

B.A., University of Chicago
M.A., University of Chicago
Ph.D., University of Chicago

Current Role
Senior Fellow, Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization.

Academic & Professional Experience
Has taught at:
National Defense University
George Washington University
American University
Institute of World Politics

Former Vice President for Programs at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), overseeing democratization initiatives.

Publications
Author of eight books, including:
The Utopian Conceit and the War on Freedom
The Art of Peace: Engaging a Complex World
An Idea Betrayed: Jews, Liberalism, and the American Left

Has written over 250 articles and reviews on international affairs, human rights, literature, and philosophy.

United States Naval Academy (1969)
M.S., Solid State Physics, University of Pennsylvania

Military & Professional Career
Served 22 years on active duty in the U.S. Navy Submarine Service, attaining the rank of Commander.
Associate Chairman, Physics Department, U.S. Naval Academy.
Taught physics at USNA and Anne Arundel Community College.

After retiring from the Navy (1991), worked 27 years supporting the submarine service and at the Office of Naval Intelligence as an analyst of submarine mission safety and security. Retired in 2018 with corporate rank of Vice President.

Current Activities
Provides grief support for veterans and is working toward certification as an antiquarian bookseller.