Wilfred M. McClay is a senior fellow at the CRCD and professor of history at Hillsdale College. He is a leading scholar of American intellectual and cultural history as well as a prominent public intellectual and commentator. He is the author of numerous books including most recently his prize-winning Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story. His The Masterless: Self and Society in Modern America received the 1995 Merle Curti Award of the Organization of American Historians for the best book in American intellectual history.

He has previously served on the National Council on the Humanities and has taught at the University of Oklahoma, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Tulane University, Pepperdine University, Georgetown University, and the University of Dallas, and has served as a Senior Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Rome. He is a member of the U.S. Commission on the Semiquincentennial, which is charged with planning the celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday in 2026.