Hertog Foundation

In 2026, more than 1,000 individuals applied for a Hertog Summer Fellowship. Congratulations to the institutions and students that were selected this year!

Fellows represent 53 colleges and universities. Top performing institutions include the University of Florida (6), Yale University (5), Stanford University (5), Harvard University (4), and Columbia University (4).

Check out our press release here to learn more about this summer's pool of fellows: https://hertogfoundation.org/2026-summer-fellows

Meet our Spring 2026 fellows. We have four fellows joining us from New York.

Mustafa Mayar is a graduate student at Bard College studying Global Studies. He has worked on national security and human rights projects at the Brennan Center for Justice, Amnesty International’s Digital Verification Corps, and the Hertie School. Born in Afghanistan, he is interested in how open societies handle coercion, disinformation, and social trust, as well as tech governance, sanctions, and the economics of supply chains. He works in English and German, and speaks Pashto and Persian.

Elishama Marmon is a JD candidate at the Georgetown University Law Center and a recent graduate of Yeshiva University, where he received his BAs in Political Science and Mathematical Economics. At YU, he served as Chief Justice of the student court, President of the College Republicans, COO at The Seforim Sale, Managing Editor of the YU Commentator, and President of YU’s Tikvah Campus Chapter. Last year, Elishama worked at the Council for a Secure America on the US-Israel Relationship and US energy security.

Matthew Sivieri is a rising junior and incoming transfer student at Columbia University, where he plans to pursue the joint Economics–Political Science major. At his previous institution, he served as a peer tutor, student mentor, and participated in recreational track & field. From Woonsocket, Rhode Island, he hopes to pursue a career in public policy or attend law school.

Walker Harris is a senior at New York University, where he studies Math and Philosophy. He was previously enrolled at Deep Springs College, a small liberal arts college on a working cattle ranch in the High Sierra. His interests include political philosophy, American literature, and running.

We're celebrating 15+ years of the Hertog Foundation by exploring our archives!

In this snapshot, Yuval Levin joins a class photo for our 2016 seminar on "American Democratic Capitalism."

Learn more about our full suite of fellowships at http://hertogfoundation.org

Meet our Spring 2026 fellows. We have four fellows joining us from the field of National Security.

Matthew Spear is a physicist and mechanical engineer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. He graduated from Loyola University Maryland, and he works in the field of radiation detection and nuclear non-proliferation, performing tests and evaluations on ionizing radiation detectors for U.S. government sponsors. His duties include designing test stands to evaluate sensors, engineering radiation test enclosures, coordinating field tests, and analyzing spectral data.

Ryan Burgess is currently a John S. McCain Fellow within the U.S. Department of Defense. From Washington D.C., he holds an M.A. in Global Security Studies, a graduate Certificate in Intelligence from Johns Hopkins University (2024), and a B.A. in Philosophy from The University of Chicago (2019). He is pursuing matriculation to doctoral programs with the goal of advancing Net Assessment-style strategic thinking in the government.

Christopher Gettel is a US Army veteran and current War Studies PhD candidate at King's College London. He is researching the factors that influenced America's early nuclear weapons policy for his thesis. He plans to work for either the US government or a think tank in DC or London.

Kelli Ahlquist is a graduate of the West Point - The U.S. Military Academy, where she majored in Human Geography with a minor in Middle Eastern area studies. She attended foreign policy immersion trips to Morocco and Israel to bring a nuanced approach to her understanding of the Middle East. She currently works for a foreign policy think tank.

We're celebrating 15+ years of the Hertog Foundation by exploring our archives!

In this snapshot, three fellows from our 2016 pose for a quick candid between classes.

Learn more about our full suite of fellowships at http://hertogfoundation.org

Meet our Spring 2026 fellows. We have four fellows joining us from the West.

Aila Conner is an undergraduate at Arizona State University studying Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership and Interior Design, with a minor in Italian. She serves as President of the Student Assembly at SCETL, leading programming, conversations, debates, and historically grounded civic events that cultivate careful reading and serious dialogue. She coaches middle and high school volleyball and leads a church-based dance outreach program. She is interested in the varying mediums through which man explores and communicates the enduring questions of the universe, which is reflected in her academic pursuits.

Kaden Van Hook is a senior of the Torrey Honors College at Biola University. He will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Minor in Financial Planning. After graduation, he plans to pursue a PhD in Political Theory with a special emphasis on Medieval Political Theory. He hopes to become a professor and a scholar of great books.

Dhriti Jagadish is a junior studying Government at Claremont McKenna College and is involved with various initiatives to promote free speech. She writes and edits for student newspapers, organizes panels with pluralistic speakers as part of CMC's Open Academy program, and has documented the Claremont Consortium's history of activism as a Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression Campus Scholar. This past summer, she was a fellow at the Hudson Institute's Political Studies program.

Bellemy Morgan is a recent graduate of The George Washington University, where she earned a B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy with a focus on Public Affairs. During her gap year before law school, she is working in Helena, Montana, as a legal intern for the Montana Attorney General. Although she was raised in California, she plans to return to her family in Montana to practice law after law school.

This spring, fellows are reading Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, a novel that remains central to any serious reckoning with American literature. In a major Twain anniversary year—it's the 150th anniversary of the publication of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer—our course returns to questions of freedom, conscience, friendship, satire, and the moral contradictions of American life.

https://hertogfoundation.org/courses/mark-twains-huckleberry-finn