For more information, contact Teresa Bailey
at (616) 454-3080 or [email protected]
For more information about the Acton Institute in Chicago
contact Jim Healy at (630) 848-2001 or [email protected]
Rev. Robert A. Sirico received his Master of Divinity degree from the Catholic University of America, following undergraduate study at the University of Southern California and the University of London. During his studies and early ministry, he experienced a growing concern over the lack of training religious studies students receive in fundamental economic principles, leaving them poorly equipped to understand and address today's social problems. As a result of these concerns, Fr. Sirico co-founded the Acton Institute with Kris Alan Mauren in 1990.
As president of the Acton Institute, Fr. Sirico lectures at colleges, universities, and business organizations throughout the U.S. and abroad. His writings on religious, political, economic, and social matters are published in a variety of journals, including: the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the London Financial Times, the Washington Times, the Detroit News, and National Review. Fr. Sirico is often called upon by members of the broadcast media for statements regarding economics, civil rights, and issues of religious concern, and has provided commentary for CNN, ABC, the BBC, NPR, and CBS' 60 Minutes, among others.
In April of 1999, Fr. Sirico was awarded an honorary doctorate in Christian Ethics from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, and in May of 2001, Universidad Francisco Marroquin awarded him an honorary doctorate in Social Sciences. He is a member of the prestigious Mont Pèlerin Society, the American Academy of Religion, and the Philadelphia Society, and is on the Board of Advisors of the Civic Institute in Prague. Father Sirico also served on the Michigan Civil Rights Commission from 1994 to 1998. He is also currently pastor of St. Mary Catholic Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Fr. Sirico's pastoral ministry has included a chaplaincy to AIDS patients at the National Institute's of Health and the recent founding of a new community, St. Philip Neri House in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Brian S. Wesbury is Chief Economist at First Trust Advisors L.P., a financial services firm based in Wheaton, Illinois. The Wall Street Journal ranked Mr. Wesbury the nation’s #1 U.S. economic forecaster in 2001 and USA Today ranked him as one of the nation’s top 10 forecasters in 2004. Mr. Wesbury writes frequently for the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal and is the Economics Editor of “The American Spectator.” He is also a frequent guest on Fox, Bloomberg , CNBC TV and BNN Canada TV.
Mr. Wesbury is a member of the Academic Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and is also an adjunct professor of economics at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.
Additionally, he sits on the Board of Managers of Three-Sixty Advisory Group, a Pasadena, California based consulting and private-equity firm. Mr. Wesbury began his career in 1982 at the Harris Bank in Chicago. Former positions include Vice President and Economist for the Chicago Corporation and Senior Vice President and Chief Economist for Griffin, Kubik, Stephens, & Thompson. In 1995 and 1996, he served as Chief Economist for the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress.
Mr. Wesbury received an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Montana. McGraw-Hill published his first book, The New Era of Wealth, in October 1999. He has a new book, It’s Not As Bad As You Think published in November 2009 by John Wiley & Sons.
Heather Wilhelm is a Chicago-based writer with experience in marketing, public relations, online news, magazine editing, and print journalism. She is a regular columnist for RealClearPolitics.com, and her written commentary has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Examiner, and the National Review Online.
Heather serves as a senior fellow at the Illinois Policy Institute, is a member of the Chicago committee of America’s Future Foundation, and sits on the board of governors for Opportunity International, a Chicago-based microfinance group providing small business loans to impoverished entrepreneurs around the world. Previously, she worked as a corporate communications specialist at ABC Television in New York, an associate editor for M. Shanken Communications, the publisher of Wine Spectator, and an editor at Fox News Online. In 2005, Heather received a Phillips Foundation Fellowship for her written work promoting constitutional principles, a democratic society, and a vibrant free enterprise system. She holds an M.A. in social sciences from the University of Chicago and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in English from Northwestern University.
