Wabash College President Scott Feller has announced a $14.7 million gift that will continue the work of the Stephenson Institute for Classical Liberalism. The gift from Richard J Stephenson '62, his wife, Dr. Stacie J. Stephenson, and their family, including Christopher '87 and Jamie Stephenson and Shawn '98 and Morgan Stephenson, will build on an already robust and successful record of programming that produces scholarship and coordinates educational and research programming in the intellectual tradition of classical liberalism.
Launched with a $10.6 million gift from the Stephenson family in October 2021, the Institute has become a strong presence on Wabash’s campus through public presentations, workshops, seminars, visiting scholars-in-residence, internships for Wabash students, and summer programming for college students to study critical ideas at the intersection of the liberal arts and classical liberalism.
“As one of the premier private colleges in the United States, Wabash is a vibrant institution deeply committed to providing a classical liberal arts education to the young men of our nation,” said President Feller. “While we are fast approaching our 200th anniversary, Wabash is also an innovative and dynamic place—preparing our graduates to meet the needs of a pluralistic society. The Stephenson Institute helps us do exactly that.”
The Institute, directed by Dr. Daniel D’Amico, has embraced the classical liberal tradition with a focus on individual liberty and a free society, investigating enduring questions such as: What are the political, economic, and social conditions necessary for individual liberty to thrive? What are the pressing threats and obstacles to human freedom and flourishing in the fast-changing modern world? How can freedom and prosperity be better promoted and protected now and into the future?
“The Stephenson Institute complements and builds on Wabash’s strong foundational legacy and role within the American classical liberal tradition,” said Dr. D’Amico. “We have fast solidified the Institute and Wabash as a major 
opportunity hub for classical liberal intellectual pursuits at the undergraduate level. The Stephensons’ extraordinary generosity will help the Institute be recognized as the premier undergraduate-focused institute of its kind in the nation, if not the world.”
Goals for the new funding include continuing to strengthen, grow, and expand existing student-focused programs including campus guest lectures, on- and off-campus co-sponsorships, scholarly residencies, student internships, and summer seminars. The Institute also supports faculty positions and professional development. Longtime Wabash College faculty Dr. Lorraine McCrary, Dr. V. Daniel Rogers, and Professor Scott Himsel have been named Stephenson Fellows. Dr. D’Amico and his staff also produce original scholarship and a broad-based, international research agenda.
Wabash students travel the world to conduct research and study the principles of classical liberalism with Stephenson Institute funding. Lucas Carpenter ’26 studied in Vienna at the Austrian Economics Center in Vienna and played a key role in the Center’s research agenda. “Having the chance to do research directly for the Vice Chancellor of the Austrian Central Bank was not a task I expected but is one that I will forever be grateful for,” he said.
“We aspire for Wabash and the Stephenson Institute to be viewed as among the most serious and vibrant opportunities for undergraduate men to study freedom, for senior scholars to visit, and for freshly minted Ph.D.s to start their careers by pursuing research and teaching here at Wabash,” added Dr. D’Amico.
Grounded in a nearly two-century tenure of liberal-arts higher education in Indiana, Wabash’s Stephenson Institute draws on a long tradition of classical-liberal teaching. Well-known Wabash alumnus and trustee, Pierre Goodrich (1894–1973, Class of 1916), was a passionate advocate for thinkers and writers who best exemplified the idea of liberty. Goodrich also went on to found Indiana’s Liberty Fund, which “encourages the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.” Ben Rogge, Professor of Economics and Dean of the College at Wabash, was a highly regarded scholar of classical liberalism who wrote and spoke broadly on the classical liberal tradition during his 31-year teaching career from 1949 through 1980.
The Stephenson Institute is housed in a beautifully renovated home directly across from the main entrance to the Wabash campus.