Larry Arnn
Larry P. Arnn is the twelfth president of Hillsdale College.
He received his B.A. from Arkansas State University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Government from
the Claremont Graduate School. He served as director of research for Sir Martin Gilbert, the
official biographer of Winston Churchill. He served as president of the Claremont Institute for the
Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy from 1985 to 2000. In 1996, he was the founding
chairman of the California Civil Rights Initiative, which was passed by California voters and
prohibited racial preferences in state hiring, contracting, and admissions.
Dr. Arnn is on the board of directors of The Heritage Foundation, the Intercollegiate
Studies Institute, and the Claremont Institute. He served on the U.S. Army War College Board of
Visitors for two years for which he earned the Department of the Army’s “Outstanding Civilian
Service Medal.” He was appointed in late 2020 as chairman of President Donald Trump’s 1776
Commission, which was established to restore in American education an understanding of the
history and principles of the founding of the United States. The 1776 Commission Report was
published in early 2021. He received the Bradley Prize from the Lynde and Harry Bradley
Foundation in 2015, the Edmund Burke Award for Service to Culture and Society from The New
Criterion in 2022, the Heartland Liberty Prize from The Heartland Institute in 2024, and most recently
the Great American Award from The Heritage Foundation in 2025.
He is a member of the American Political Science Association, the Philadelphia Society, Churchill
Centre, the Council for National Policy, the Federalist Society, the Mont Pelerin 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 of three books: Liberty and
Learning: The Evolution of American Education; The Founders’ Key: The Divine and Natural Connection between
the Declaration and the Constitution and What We Risk by Losing It; and Churchill’s Trial: Winston Churchill
and the Salvation of Free Government.
Dr. Arnn is a professor of politics and history at Hillsdale. He teaches courses on Aristotle,
Winston Churchill, 20 th Century Totalitarian Novels, and the American Constitution.
He and his wife, Penelope, have four children, Henry, Katy, Alice, and Tony, and two grandchildren,
Charlotte and William.