Stephen Balch

Balch received a bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from Brooklyn College, City University of New York, in 1964.

[2] He served as president of the NAS for twenty-one years between 1987 and 2008, was founder and vice president of the American Academy for Liberal Education (an accrediting agency devoted to enriching content and enhancing the rigor of liberal education[5]), was founder and director of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni[3] (1994–2011), served on the board of trustees for Medaille College in Buffalo, New York (1997–2003), was director of the Philadelphia Society[7] (2002–2006), chairman of the National Association of Scholars from 2009 to 2012, and is currently a member of its steering committee and board (2012–present).

[8][9] He is chairman of the Association for the Study of Free Institutions[1] (2014–present), member of the board of the Alliance for Liberal Learning (2015–present), president of the West Texas/Eastern New Mexico Phi Beta Kappa Association (2016–present), president of Lambda of Texas, Texas Tech University's Phi Beta Kappa Chapter, and member of the board of the American Academy for Liberal Education (2016–present).

He has played a key role in the founding of numerous academic programs at American universities and colleges focused on the study of free institutions and Western civilization.

This award cited him "for leadership and advocacy upholding the noblest traditions in higher education", and went on to say that "his work on behalf of reasoned scholarship in a free society has made him a leading champion of excellence and reform at our nation's universities.