VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 1 | 2022
Pepperdine School of Public Policy
CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF PUBLIC LEADERSHIP This year marks the 25th year of the Pepperdine School of Public Policy (SPP). The school was founded in 1997 following the launch of the Davenport Institute in 1996. SPP is built on a distinctive philosophy of preparing public leaders to use tools of analysis combined with their moral sense to affect real change. Through a curriculum grounded in understanding policy’s inherent philosophical and historical dimensions, SPP prepares cross-sector leaders for careers that strengthen the institutions of the private, nonprofit, and government sectors. “From our founding, the School of Public Policy was intended to take a different approach to public leadership education,” said Pete Peterson, dean of SPP. “By grounding our curriculum in the great books and the debates at the Constitutional Convention, we have always understood that policy and political issues in a democratic society must be open to investigation and Anniversary continued on page 2
SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
Receives $10 Million Endowment to Launch New Edwin Meese III Institute for Liberty and the American Project
T
he Pepperdine School of Public Policy has announced the launch of the Edwin Meese III Institute for Liberty and the American Project. The new Meese Institute has been endowed with a $10 million gift from Pepperdine alumni Chandra (’99, JD ’02) and Adam (’99) Melton. A member of the School of Public Policy Board of Advisors, Chandra is dedicated to preparing students for leadership opportunities in government agencies at the local,
state, and federal levels. The Melton Chair, a leading scholar in American history, politics, and the role of faith in American Institutions will direct the institute. The chair will also teach the school’s graduate public policy students, organize events, and engage through the media on current political and policy debates from the school’s unique perspective. The University anticipates a highly competitive national search for this position.
“With its longstanding commitment to grounding public leadership education in civic virtue and America’s founding principles, the School of Public Policy is the perfect home for this new institute. We all must act to protect the constitutional rights that have made America what it is today and the Meese legacy acts as a compass, a true north for all of us,” states Adam and Chandra Melton. “Ed Meese is a man of faith, grounded in absolute truth Meese Institute continued on page 4