Clemson’s Hayek Center receives major grant to expand research and undergraduate programs

September 11, 2019

Clemson University’s Hayek Center for Business Prosperity has received a four-year grant  from the Charles Koch Foundation that could provide as much as $5 million to the center.

The Hayek Center, founded in 2018, will use funds received from the grant to hire faculty, support research, enhance academic programming and provide financial support to students. Housed in the College of Business, the Hayek Center examines the potential for an open marketplace of goods and ideas to promote human flourishing.

Reed Watson, a 2004 Clemson graduate and director of the Hayek Center, said the grant will further the center’s ability to explore when and under what conditions business enterprise accelerates human progress — and when business hinders that progress.

“We are thrilled by the support and the opportunity this grant affords us to expand our research agenda and grow our programs,” Watson said.

In its inaugural year, the Hayek Center pursued several research projects by faculty in the John E. Walker Department of Economics funded by individual donors and charitable foundations. It also supported public lectures by such notable scholars as Richard Epstein, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a member of the faculty of the New York University School of Law.

“Perhaps our biggest achievement was launching the HERO Prize to help students across Clemson’s campus incorporate business principles into their international aid projects,” Watson said. “This was entirely student-led, and it demonstrates that Clemson students are eager to use business not just to help themselves but to help less fortunate people around the world. I like to think Thomas Green Clemson would be impressed with our students’ work.”

 

The Hayek Center for the Business of Prosperity

The Hayek Center for the Business of Prosperity is housed in the College of Business at Clemson University. Through a combination of scholarly research and undergraduate education, the Hayek Center examines the fundamental purpose of business and how it impacts society and those who choose careers in business-related fields. The Hayek Center is funded by private gifts and is named for Nobel Prize winning economist Friedrich Hayek.