Conferences

The NAS's Thirteenth General Conference opened in Washington on 9 January 2009. We titled it: "The Changing Landscape of American Higher Education." The schedule of activities, posted HERE, lists the debate between NAS president Peter Wood, and Cary Nelson of the AAUP on "the meaning of academic freedom." Victor Davis Hanson, delivered the keynote speech (and received the Peter Shaw Award, as well). We bestowed the Sidney Hook Award on Ward Connerly for his heroic services vindicating color blindness. Our own Carol Iannone received the Barry Gross Award, and we honored Congressman Thomas Petri for his help in bringing the American History for Freedom program closer to reality. We bestowed a humanities award on Bruce Cole of the NEH. Panels included The Changing Political Landscape of Higher Education, The Changing Economic & Technical Landscape of Higher Education, The Military and Academe. and Are the Dorms Being Politicized?

At our Twelfth National Conference, held in Cambridge, MA, from the 17th to the 19th of November, 2006, we showcased and discussed the milestones of NAS effort in a series of panels under the title, "What Works in Higher Education Reform: A Report from the Front." Our conference featured University of Colorado president Hank Brown as the keynote speaker. Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund addressed a breakfast gathering, and Alan Charles Kors and Harvey Silverglate, cofounders of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education addressed the state of academic freedom. The schedule posted HERE contains information about what took place.

The eleventh such meeting took place from 21 to 23 May 2004 at the Roosevelt Hotel, New York City. The theme in May 2004 was What Our Universities and Schools Owe Each Other. Diane Ravitch delivered the keynote speech. The NAS bestowed the Sidney Hook Memorial Award on Stanley Rothman of Smith College, Click HERE for a schedule of what went on.

Our tenth national meeting occurred in Washington DC from 31 May through 2 June 2002. Its theme was Higher Education and Democracy in Peace and War. The conference program is recorded HERE. Insight Magazine made it the cover story of their 1-8 June 2002 issue.

Our ninth national meeting in New York took place on the weekend of 12 January 2001. Its theme was Taking Measure: Higher Education at the Turn of the Century. Click HERE for a complete schedule of what went on.

The Eighth National NAS Conference was held in Chicago, April 1999, at the Regal Knickerbocker Hotel. The theme: Our Universites and Our Culture. John R. Searle delivered the keynote address. We bestowed the Hook Award on Gertrude Himmelfarb. John M. Ellis received the Shaw Award, and we recognized the efforts of Joseph M. Horn with the Gross Award.

The Seventh National NAS Conference was held in New Orleans, December 1997, at Le Meridien Hotel. The theme: Multiculturalism and the Future of Higher Education. The keynote speaker was Shelby Steele. Thomas Sowell received the Hook Award and other prizes went to Mary R. Lefkowitz, Glynn Custred, and Thomas E. Wood.

The Sixth National Conference was held at the Washington Marriott in Washington, D.C., May 1996. The theme of the conference was The New Higher Education Reform Movement: Its Shape, Direction, and Future, and featured were William Bennett and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

Our Fifth National Conference was held in November 1994 in Cambridge, Massachusetts on the theme: Truth and Objectivity in the Natural Sciences, the Social Sciences, and the Humanities. Earlier NAS conferences were held in New York City, Minneapolis, and San Francisco. Information about these may be obtained by contacting the NAS.