On May 14, Mises Institute opened its doors to a brand-new program developed in honor of Murray Rothbard’s 100th birthday: Rothbard University. The objective was simple: to recreate the magic of our summer student program Mises University in a format specifically for professionals.
The event opened with Dr. Wanjiru Njoya’s keynote lecture, “Egalitarianism and Value-free Economics.” Dr. Njoya eloquently demonstrated how any tolerance of egalitarianism amounts to championing aggression against others, a foundational theme of Rothbard’s work. The two-and- a-half-day event was a crash course in the foundations of Austrian economics, as laid out in Rothbard’s magnificent treatise Man, Economy, and State.
Rothbard University also featured the official release of one of the most important books the Mises Institute has published, Murray N. Rothbard: The Making of an Austrian Economist, a much-needed intellectual biography of Rothbard. Each attendee received a free copy of this special book and had the opportunity to have it autographed by authors Joseph Salerno and Patrick Newman.
Of course, a special element of any Mises Institute event, and particularly Mises University, is the energy created by the enthusiasm and intellectual curiosity of the students. Likewise, our first Rothbard University class included successful professionals and business owners, independent researchers, scholars in diverse disciplines, homeschoolers, and many others who left better equipped to apply the principles of liberty and Austrian economics to their pursuits. Beautiful spring weather in Auburn certainly didn’t hurt either.
Thank you to our generous sponsors and patrons who made this event possible. Thanks also to those who were part of the first class, and special congratulations to those who placed in the optional Mündliche Prüfung, which tested participants’ knowledge of Austrian economics.
Faculty
Dr. Joseph T. Salerno, Rothbard University Director
Dr. Peter G. Klein
Dr. Jonathan Newman
Dr. Patrick Newman
Dr. Wanjiru Njoya
Dr. Timothy D. Terrell
Dr. Mark Thornton
Special gratitude is given to our generous faculty sponsors: Anonymous sponsor, Bryan Lee Briggs, Alan Claypool, Greg Garzonie, Daniel Johnson, Mark Monoscalco, and Don Printz.
