Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill

Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill is a program officer at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. She has been an adviser to Washington think tanks and educational nonprofit organizations. Prior to her work in the nonprofit sector, Jacqueline served on the faculties of St. John's College and the College of William & Mary. She has published articles about political philosophy, social issues, and bioethics in journals such as The New Atlantis, Society, and Philanthropy.

Jacqueline earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from Duke University and her B.A., also in political science, from The University of Calgary.

Jacqueline is a board member for the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women College Program Foundation, and she has taught in the college program at Maryland's only prison for women. She lives with her husband and their children in Silver Spring, Maryland.

RECENT POSTS BY JACQUELINE PFEFFER MERRILL

• Givers, takers, and civil society?

  Adam Grant is the wunderkind of business professors, a Harvard and University of Michigan graduate who, at 31, is the youngest tenured faculty at Wharton Business School.… MORE >>

• Donor intent and anonymity

  How many ways can donor intent be violated? Quite a few, as it turns out.… MORE >>

• Pink garbage trucks

  My children’s favorite picture from a trip I took to Iraq was a garbage truck decked out with garlands of flowers—I was told this remarkable decoration was occasion by Ramadan.… MORE >>

• A new report on philanthropic freedom

  It’s a cliché to say civil society is necessary for philanthropy—but how, exactly, is this so?… MORE >>

• Philanthropy in The Little Way of Ruthie Leming

  Editor and author Rod Dreher’s newly published, and already widely acclaimed, The Little Way of Ruthie Leming… MORE >> beautifully tells two stories: the story of Dreher’s sister Ruthie Leming’s and the story of Dreher’s own transformation in reaction to his sister’s life and death.

• Margaret Thatcher and Antony Fisher: Free markets and philanthropy

  Many tributes have been paid to Baroness Thatcher’s intelligence, fortitude, and statesmanship.… MORE >>

• Philanthropy and freedom

  There’s nothing more dangerous to a tyrant than citizens’ friendship, the ancient Greek philosopher Xenophon counseled would-be tyrants, because friends will help one another.… MORE >>

• Missing Mr. Anonymous…

  This week’s Miss Manners column by the delightful and wise Judith Martin featured a dilemma that highlights the moral character of philanthropy: DEAR MISS MANNERS: Is it ever acceptable to donate money at all levels of giving so that one’s name appears multiple times on a program?… MORE >>

• Are American charities failing?

  Ken Stern, former CEO of National Public Radio, has roundly critiqued American philanthropy in his newly published With Charity for All: Why Charities Are Failing and a Better Way to Give.… MORE >>

• Can a billion-dollar prize change the world?

  On Wednesday, author and entrepreneur Andy Kessler published a provocative op-ed in the Wall Street Journal… MORE >> [subscription only] encouraging philanthropists to offer big-dollar — even billion-dollar!