Yuval Levin, director of social, cultural, and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), visited Mercersburg Academy on January 30 to deliver this year’s Schaff Lecture on Ethics and Morals in the Burgin Center for the Arts’ Simon Theatre.

Listen to Levin's talk.

Levin’s talk was part of the school’s annual endowed lecture series. Prior to the lecture, Levin had dinner with students. He also invited students to a question-and-answer session the following day.

At AEI, Levin holds the Beth and Ravenel Curry Chair in Public Policy. The founder and editor of National Affairs, he is also a senior editor at The New Atlantis, a contributing editor at National Review, and a contributing opinion writer at The New York Times.

The social, cultural, and constitutional studies research division scholars study the foundations of self-government and the future of law, regulation, and constitutionalism. Levin’s research areas include Congress, the presidency and the courts, political philosophy, and American social, political, and civic life.

Levin served as a member of the White House domestic policy staff under President George W. Bush. He was also executive director of the President’s Council on Bioethics and a congressional staffer at the member, committee, and leadership levels.

In addition to being interviewed frequently on radio and television, Levin has published essays and articles in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Commentary. He is the author of several books on political theory and public policy, most recently A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream (Basic Books, 2020).

He holds an MA and PhD from the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago.

The Schaff Family Endowment, which supports the lecture, was funded by and is in honor of Schaff brothers Phillip ’38, Charles ’41, and David ’42. The endowment supports annual speakers “on topics related to fundamental human values—those principles which direct a person’s decisions and actions because they clarify what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong.’”