The Heartland Emerging Issues Forum * September 13, 2005 * Chicago, Illinois

SPEAKER BIO: Joseph L. Bast

Joseph L. Bast is President and CEO of The Heartland Institute, a national, independent, nonprofit research center founded in 1984 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Bast is the coauthor of eight books and numerous policy studies on school reform, health care reform, economic development, and environmentalism. He is the publisher of four monthly newspapers: School Reform News, Environment & Climate News, Health Care News, and Budget & Tax News. All four publications are delivered to every state and federal legislator in the country, as well as some 2,000 journalists and thousands of grassroots activists and public policy research organizations.

Bast has received numerous awards, including the 1994 Roe Award from State Policy Network, the 1996 Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award (with coauthors), 1998 Eagle Award from Eagle Forum, and the 2000 Edward Bushel Eternal Vigilance Award “for outstanding service and dedication to the principles of liberty” by the Libertarian Party of Illinois (presented at LPI annual convention). He was elected a member of the Philadelphia Society in 2001.

Bast was The Heartland Institute's first employee, and oversaw its growth from an annual budget in 1984 of $20,000 to a budget in 2004 of $2.2 million and a staff of 14. From 1983 to 1987, Bast was publisher and coeditor of Nomos: Studies in Spontaneous Order, a bimonthly magazine on contemporary issues. He studied economics at the University of Chicago. He and his wife of 23 years, Diane Carol Bast, reside in Palatine, Illinois.

SPEAKER BIO: Joseph L. Bast

Joseph L. Bast is President and CEO of The Heartland Institute, a national, independent, nonprofit research center founded in 1984 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Bast is the coauthor of eight books and numerous policy studies on school reform, health care reform, economic development, and environmentalism. He is the publisher of four monthly newspapers: School Reform News, Environment & Climate News, Health Care News, and Budget & Tax News. All four publications are delivered to every state and federal legislator in the country, as well as some 2,000 journalists and thousands of grassroots activists and public policy research organizations. Bast has received numerous awards, including the 1994 Roe Award from State Policy Network, the 1996 Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award (with coauthors), 1998 Eagle Award from Eagle Forum, and the 2000 Edward Bushel Eternal Vigilance Award “for outstanding service and dedication to the principles of liberty” by the Libertarian Party of Illinois (presented at LPI annual convention). He was elected a member of the Philadelphia Society in 2001. Bast was The Heartland Institute's first employee, and oversaw its growth from an annual budget in 1984 of $20,000 to a budget in 2004 of $2.2 million and a staff of 14. From 1983 to 1987, Bast was publisher and coeditor of Nomos: Studies in Spontaneous Order, a bimonthly magazine on contemporary issues. He studied economics at the University of Chicago. He and his wife of 23 years, Diane Carol Bast, reside in Palatine, Illinois.