The F. M. Kirby Foundation is proud to celebrate nearly 50 years supporting the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a public policy think tank dedicated to defending human dignity, expanding human potential, and building a freer and safer world. Founded in 1938 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., AEI brings together leading scholars and researchers whose work advances ideas rooted in democracy, free enterprise, American strength and global leadership, and a pluralistic, entrepreneurial culture.

AEI’s research is organized into four core areas that reflect the breadth of its policy work: Economics, Foreign and Defense Policy, Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies, and Domestic Policy Studies. Each area brings together distinguished scholars to conduct independent, empirical research aimed at strengthening free enterprise, expanding opportunity, and safeguarding America’s role in the world. AEI scholars are prolific contributors to the national conversation, authoring books and reports while regularly appearing in major publications, hosting conferences and seminars, and producing podcasts, videos, and other digital content that reaches broad audiences across the country and around the globe.

AEI operates with a firm commitment to intellectual independence, accepting no government grants and taking no institutional positions on any issues. Its scholars pursue their work with academic freedom, and their conclusions are fueled by rigorous, data-driven research and broad-ranging evidence.

The F. M. Kirby Foundation is honored to support AEI’s mission to make the intellectual, moral, and practical case for expanding freedom, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening the foundations of a free and democratic society.