We at the Institute for Humane Studies are deeply saddened by the passing of Walter Grinder. His tenure at IHS as Vice President for Academic Affairs laid the foundation for what would become our Summer Seminars program and helped to establish the Humane Studies Fellowship. During his time at IHS, and throughout his life, Walter was a proponent of the Austrian School of Economics and championed classical liberal ideas through his work by bringing together students and scholars for open, civil discourse and academic collaboration.
“Meeting Walter was a formative moment in my life,” says Tyler Cowen, the Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mason University, and member of the Institute for Humane Studies Board of Directors.
“Meeting him hooked me on the world of ideas. He was the first person to show me it was possible to have a life devoted to inquiry. I looked forward to each meeting with Walter. He was the person who had read and understood more books than anyone else. I saw him and thought, ‘I want to be some version of this.'”
IHS is deeply grateful for Walter’s seventeen years of service to the organization and his commitment to liberty, freedom of expression, and a more prosperous world for all.
