Matthew B. Crawford

Matthew B. Crawford is a writer based in Richmond, Virginia and a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. He is also a contributing editor for The New Atlantis.

Think Tank Work
Crawford was Executive Director of the George C. Marshall Institute, a position he was appointed to on September 4, 2001. Announcing his appointment, the Institute stated that "Dr. Crawford earned his Ph.D. in political science at the University of Chicago and his Bachelor of Science degree in physics at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He has done research on ocean surface temperature at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography as well as emission control research and has won numerous academic fellowships, including the Bradley Fellowship, The H.B. Earhart Fellowship, and the University of Chicago Century Fellowship; he was the John M. Olin Postdoctoral Fellow in the Committee on Social Thought.  In addition to his academic career, Dr. Crawford brings experience in business, contract and program management. Dr. Crawford is well acquainted with the mission and programs of the Marshall Institute and his background in both public policy and physical science makes him uniquely qualified to guide and expand them."

In 2009, Crawford wrote of his appointment at the think tank: "This felt like a coup. But certain perversities became apparent as I settled into the job. It sometimes required me to reason backward, from desired conclusion to suitable premise. The organization had taken certain positions, and there were some facts it was more fond of than others. As its figurehead, I was making arguments I didn't fully buy myself. Further, my boss seemed intent on retraining me according to a certain cognitive style — that of the corporate world, from which he had recently come. This style demanded that I project an image of rationality but not indulge too much in actual reasoning."

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