What do Laura Bush, Tom Brokaw, and Heritage scholar David Azerrad have in common?

According to the American Legion, all three do an outstanding job of promoting civic education across the country.

Azerrad is Heritage’s AWC Family Foundation Fellow and directs the B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics. And now he has joined a distinguished list of recipients of the Legion’s National Education Award. 

The Legion presents this award annually to the person, group, or organization that has “best promoted either the educational programs of The American Legion, any educational programs that correspond to Legion goals, or education goals at the national level.” The organization was impressed by Azerrad’s work at Heritage, and was especially appreciative of his annual lecture on the Constitution, delivered to delegates attending the Legion’s Boys Nation, a forum promoting civics, leadership, and Americanism among the nation’s youth.

“Rarely have I met anybody as passionate about and committed to this country’s founding principles as David Azerrad,” said John Malcolm, vice president of Heritage’s Institute for Constitutional Government.

Azerrad, a former Publius fellow at the Claremont Institute, studies the American political tradition, from the Founding until today. He has published pieces on foundational texts and ideas like the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the American Dream, and equality of opportunity, and also analyzed contemporary politics, writing on Bernie Sanders’s socialism and Donald Trump’s nationalism.

Azerrad also teaches classes on American conservative and progressive political thought at American University. As a sought-after speaker nationwide, Azerrad has taken his thoughts to college campuses and general audiences in nearly 30 states. He recently gave a lecture on “How Equal Should Opportunities Be?” for the Program on Constitutional Government at Harvard University.

“David richly deserves the American Legion’s National Education Award.  He is one of the most thoughtful and persuasive advocates for the regime of ordered liberty established by our Founders,” said Kim Holmes, Heritage’s senior vice-president of research. “Few are better at connecting our founding principles to the questions we confront today as a country.”

You can learn more about Dr. Azerrad and his work here.