National Association of Scholars
1 Airport Place, Suite 7 • Princeton, NJ 08540-1532
phone: 609-683-7878 • fax: 609-683-0316
web: www.nas.org • email: nasonweb@nas.org
Press Release
June 4, 2009
Contact: Stephen H. Balch, Chairman
(609) 683-7878
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRINCETON, NJ—The National Association of Scholars expressed satisfaction with the nomination of former Congressman James A. Leach to be the new Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
“This might have been the occasion for the appointment of an academic with a political agenda”, said NAS Chairman Stephen H. Balch. “Instead, President Obama has chosen a politician with a humanistic one. While in Congress, Mr. Leach demonstrated an enthusiasm for the humanities rare among public officials. His challenge now, most appropriate for an Iowan, will be to develop the critical judgment necessary to winnow the wheat from the chaff among the many proposals that will be brought to him for approval.”
“The National Association of Scholars”, Dr. Balch continued, “looks forward to confirmation hearings in which Mr. Leach will have the opportunity to disclose his plans for the Endowment. Assuming confirmation, he will have the great advantage of inheriting a staff immensely strengthened by Bruce Cole, as well as a National Council of outstanding caliber. We hope that Mr. Leach will employ these assets to sustain his predecessor’s commitment to scholarship that illuminates the peaks of human achievement and the foundations of America’s civilization.”
The National Association of Scholars is America’s foremost higher education reform group. Located in Princeton, it has forty-seven state affiliates and more than four thousand professors, graduate students, administrators, and trustees, who are members or affiliates.
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