Larry P. Arnn is the twelfth president of Hillsdale College. He received his B.A. in Political Science and Accounting in 1974 from Arkansas State University, graduating with the highest distinction. He studied at the Claremont Graduate School and received his M.A. in Government in 1976, and his Ph.D. in Government in 1985. He studied in England from 1977 to 1980, first as a research student in International History at the London School of Economics, and then in Modern History at Worcester College, Oxford University. He has received numerous fellowships and awards, among them a two-year fellowship from the Alcoa Foundation in 1972; a Richard M. Weaver Fellowship in 1975; a Rotary International Fellowship in 1977; Earhart Foundation Fellowships in 1978, 1979, and 1980; and a Winston S. Churchill Association Fellowship from 1977 to 1980.
While in England, Dr. Arnn served as Director of Research for Martin Gilbert, now Sir Martin, of Merton College, Oxford, and the official biographer of Winston Churchill. Dr. Arnn returned to the United States in 1980 to become an editor for Public Research, Syndicated. From 1985-2000, he served as president of The Claremont Institute, an education and research institution based in Southern California. While at Claremont, he was the founding chairman of the California Civil Rights Initiative, or Proposition 209, which was passed by California voters in 1996 and prohibited racial preferences in state hiring, contracting and admissions.
Dr. Arnn is on the board of directors of The Heritage Foundation, the Army War College, the Henry Salvatori Center of Claremont McKenna College, Americans Against Discrimination and Preferences, the Center for Individual Rights, and The Claremont Institute. He is a member of the American Political Science Association, the Mont Pelerin Society, the International Churchill Society and the Philanthropy Roundtable. Published widely in national newspapers, magazines and periodicals on issues of public policy, history and political theory, he is the author most recently of Liberty and Learning: The Evolution of American Education, published by Hillsdale College Press in 2004.
Dr. Arnn and his wife, Penelope, have four children, Henry, Katy, Alice and Tony.
Under Dr. Arnn's leadership since May of 2000, Hillsdale College's Center for Constructive Alternatives, Ludwig von Mises Lecture Series and National Leadership Seminars have continued to present leading scholars and public figures to audiences nationwide. Imprimis, the College's national speech digest, has increased its monthly circulation to over 1.25 million. The College has launched the Hoogland Center for Teacher Excellence, which holds educational seminars for high school teachers in history, government, economics and civics. Hillsdale's core (required) curriculum has been expanded to include a one-semester course on the U.S. Constitution. And a distinguished visiting fellowship program has been established, through which such teachers have been brought to campus as historian Sir Martin Gilbert, classicist and military historian Victor Davis Hanson, novelist and journalist Mark Helprin, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Dr. Arnn is currently heading up the College's $400 million Founders Campaign for capital and endowment goals that will expand the school's buildings and grounds, strengthen its liberal arts programs and establish the Hillsdale Graduate School of Statesmanship.