Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn Awarded Prestigious Bradley Prize

Hillsdale College President Larry P. Arnn, president has been selected as one of four recipients of the Bradley Prize for his leadership at the college where he has served for almost 15 years.

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin announced the decision Tuesday, saying that he was one of four picked out of more than 200 nominees of other prominent individuals.

The Bradley Prize is awarded to those whose work promotes the mission of the foundation, which includes "preserving and defending the tradition of free representative government and private enterprise," with a devotion "to strengthening American democratic capitalism and the institutions, principles, and values that sustain and nurture it."

According to Bradley Foundation president and CEO Michael W. Grebe, "Dr. Arnn is dedicated to traditional academic purpose. He has helped to build Hillsdale College into the model of classical liberal arts education. His scholarship and leadership throughout the years deserve recognition.

"Through the Bradley Prizes, we recognize individuals like Dr. Arnn whose accomplishments strengthen American institutions, with the hope that others will strive for excellence in their respective fields,” Grebe said.

The four prizes will be awarded on June 3 at a ceremony at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. Each Bradley Prize recipient is given a $250,000 stipend.

Before becoming president of Hillsdale College in May 2000, Arnn served as president of the Claremont Institute, a Southern California education and research organization from 1985 until 2000.

During his tenure at Claremont, Arnn served as the founding chairman of the California Civil Rights Initiative, which was a ballot initiative that passed in 1996, ending the use of racial preferences in state hiring and college admissions.

Arnn still serves on the board of directors for the Claremont Institute as well as on the boards of The Heritage Foundation and Claremont McKenna College.

Established in 1844, Hillsdale College has an undergraduate enrollment of about 1,500 students. Located in Hillsdale, Mich., about 50 miles southwest of Ann Arbor, the college has been referred to as the "conservative Harvard."

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