Steve Balch

Chairman, National Association of Scholars

Academic Questions View all


July 22, 2022

No Midge, No NAS: A Tribute to Midge Decter

Steve Balch

Among the many intellectual luminaries who helped birth the National Association of Scholars, Midge Decter was “The One.”

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December 27, 2021

Donald Kagan: A Citizen Scholar

Steve Balch

Steve Balch remembers Donald Kagan, a scholar and academic leader, and one of higher education’s most noble citizens.

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September 30, 2020

What is Affirmative Action?

Steve Balch

A review of The Affirmative Action Puzzle: A Living History from Reconstruction to Today, Melvin I. Urofsky, Pantheon, 2020, pp. 592, $22.68 hardcover.

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Articles View all


May 10, 2022

No Midge, No National Association of Scholars: A Tribute to Midge Decter

Steve Balch

Steve Balch reflects on the life of Midge Decter, the "godmother" of the National Association of Scholars, who helped NAS find its footing during its fledgling years.

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November 4, 2021

Joseph M. Horn Remembered

Steve Balch

NAS mourns the passing of one of our earliest members, who also served as inaugural president of our Texas state affiliate.

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May 1, 2020

The Great Reveal

Steve Balch

In describing these days will future historians employ as metaphor a pressure cooker about to explode or sheep being led to slaughter?

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