Opening in 1997, the Institute differentiates itself from similar organizations by working directly with elected officials and others to fashion and implement change in public policy.
Throughout the year, the institute hosts lectures and conferences around relevant topics featuring significant and controversial issues impacting the region, the state, the nation, and the world.
The current director of the Institute is John T. Shaw, an author and journalist who for more than 20 years covered the United States Congress for Market News International, a global financial wire service.
Notable guests have included former Irish President Mary Robinson, former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Jan Eliasson, former U.S. presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, New America CEO Anne-Marie Slaughter, and U.S.
This Initiative is built around an annual summit of college students, historical case studies and commemorations, and over-the-horizon seminars by leading analysts on the future challenges confronting Illinois.
While preparing for the 2020 summit, the Institute asked 25 prominent Illinoisans to respond to the question: "If you were teaching an 'Illinois 101' course to highly motivated undergraduates, what five books would you assign them to read?"
Jim Edgar and Paul Simon Public Policy Institute Director John Shaw announced a new annual award that celebrates exceptional leadership in Illinois.
This vote ended the two-year fiscal stalemate that tarnished Illinois' reputation, damaged schools, battered the state's credit rating, and led to about $15 billion in unpaid bills.
In 2021, Steve Brown, press secretary for longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, wrote an exit essay detailing his time working in legislative communications in the statehouse.
[5] Paul Simon lived for many years in the small town of Makanda, south of Carbondale, where he was a professor and director of the SIU Public Policy Institute.