About Us

We are building a movement of civic educators to reach the next generation with the principles of equality, liberty, and opportunity that lie at the heart of the American political tradition.

Our Mission

The Jack Miller Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to reinvigorating education in America’s founding principles and history, an education vital to thoughtful and engaged citizenship.

 

Our Work

We have four strategies:

  1. Renew the serious study of America’s founding principles and history in higher education.
  2. Transform K-12 teacher education for civics and history teachers.
  3. Build the premier online American tradition library and learning tool.
  4. Grow the nationwide movement to strengthen American civic education.
Launching the Jack Miller Center
Paving the Way
Gaining Momentum
Partnerships
Expanding Our Impact
Over 1,000 Fellows
Launching the Jack Miller Center
2004A New Idea

Jack Miller meets at the University of Chicago with 50 professors from campuses across the country to discuss the lack of civic education at the undergraduate college level.

2005-2006Developing a Model

Pilot projects launched to strengthen education in America’s founding principles and history, including our first Miller Summer Institute held at Princeton University in 2005.

2007Our Founding

Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History incorporated as a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) charity with a community of 125 professors and eight campus partner programs.

2008Expert Advice

JMC establishes an academic advisory council comprised of leading scholars in political science and history.

Paving the Way
2008New Jobs and New Courses

Postdoctoral fellowship program launched to offer more courses on American history and political thought to college students and to help new scholars gain experience to be competitive in the academic job market.

2008New Learning Opportunities

JMC and Liberty Fund facilitate book placements for JMC partner programs on campuses to provide collections of books on American history and political thought for use by students.

2009Our First Regional Initiative

Chicago Initiative launched to foster collaboration between area faculty and colleges to strengthen civic education in the Chicago region.

2009JMC Conference Leads to New Publications

JMC scholars present papers at our first Fellows Conference in 2009 on American political thought at Georgetown University, later leading to a new college textbook and several peer-reviewed articles published in major academic journals.

Gaining Momentum
2010New Panels on American Political Thought

JMC supports the American political thought related group at the American Political Science Association (APSA), establishing panels at APSA conferences to enrich teaching and research for scholars. First panel is held.

2010First JMC High School Teachers Academy

JMC partners with Roosevelt University to host our first summer High School Teachers Academy, helping prepare teachers to educate their students on the
history and principles of the American Founding.

2011National Constitution Day Initiative

JMC launches the Constitution Day Initiative, helping colleges provide substantive programming on Constitution Day, Sept. 17, engaging thousands of students across the country in historical and contemporary constitutional issues.

2012Major Historical Research Project

JMC partners with the Huntington Library for a two-year collaborative research project on the roles of science, religion and politics in shaping the American Founding.

Partnerships
2012New Scholarly Journal

University of Chicago Press and University of Notre Dame in partnership with JMC, launch "American Political Thought," an academic journal providing a much-needed venue for scholarly work devoted to the subject.

2012Regional Consortia

JMC conducts first Jeffersonian Seminar in Chicago as part of a series that fosters faculty collaboration and develops academic communities in specific regions around the country, strengthening our national network.

2013University Collaboration

JMC launches the Commercial Republic Initiative, a national project to enrich the study of the institutions and ideas that have shaped America’s scientific, legal and economic order at leading universities around the country, from MIT to UCLA.

2013Faculty Partnerships

JMC hosts 10th annual Miller National Summit on Higher Education, bringing together professors from campuses around the country to focus on practical steps to advance education in American political thought and history.

Expanding Our Impact
2014New Opportunities for Impact

Opportunity Fund established to help expand carefully selected campus programs with the most potential for success, including Yale, Penn, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and UVA.

2015A Growing Community

JMC has built a national community of more than 800 professors on hundreds of campuses across the country and has helped to launch or grow 58 major campus programs dedicated to advancing education in America’s founding principles and history.

2016Civic Education Outreach

JMC expanded its work to the high school level to ensure that students receive a much-needed foundation in American history and politics to guide their civic participation.

2019High School Program Success in Chicago

After three years of work in Chicago, surveys of all government teachers found that their use of Abraham Lincoln’s writings had increased by 46%, the Federalist Papers by 17%, and other writings by the Founders by 25%.

Over 1,000 Fellows
2019JMC's Partner Program Initiative

With the launch of the Partner Program Initiative, JMC set a goal of adding 55 new campus programs within five years.

2020The American Civics & History Initiative

JMC joined two other leading civic education organizations, the Ashbrook Center and Bill of Rights Institute, to form the American Civics and History Initiative to help teachers cultivate the next generation of citizens.

2021Over 1,000 Fellows

In August 2021, JMC reached a major milestone with a record 1,000+ fellows that have participated in our programming. These like-minded scholars teach on campuses across the nation.

Jack Miller, along with a team of academic and nonprofit foundation experts, began working with scholars in 2004 in response to mounting evidence that college graduates— the future leaders of our country—lacked the knowledge of America’s founding principles and history necessary to be informed and engaged citizens. The Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History became an independent nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) operating foundation in October 2007. In 2010 the IRS granted the Jack Miller Center advanced ruling as a public charity. Today, there are more than 1,000 JMC Fellows at over 300 college campuses across the country.