Ed Feulner

Heritage’s President Edwin J. Feulner is the recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal from Ronald Reagan for his work as a leader of the conservative movement. He is a former Director of the Republican Study Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and served as Vice Chairman of the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform, a member of the Commission on Reforming the International Financial Institutions (the “Meltzer Commission), and on the UNESCO Assessment Commission. Feulner is the first major figure with deep credibility in the conservative movement to join the Trump transition effort, which is being run by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Two sources with direct knowledge of Feulner’s involvement confirmed his role. Contacted by phone, Feulner confirmed that he is working for Trump’s transition team but declined to comment and referred questions to the Trump campaign. Feulner is credited with building the Heritage Foundation from a small, struggling policy think tank in the 1970s to the influential behemoth it became during the presidency of Ronald Reagan and beyond. He retired as president in 2013, when former U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican, took the reins of the organization. He currently serves as Treasurer and Trustee of The Mont Pelerin Society; Member of the Board of the National Chamber Foundation; member of the Board of Visitors of George Mason University; a Trustee of the Acton Institute and the International Republican Institute. Dr. Feulner has also received degrees and honorary degrees from universities all over the world including Pepperdine University, and University of Edinburgh, where he received his Ph.D.