Our Team
David C. Rose, Ph.D.
Dr. David C. Rose is co-founder, trustee, and chief executive officer of the American Civics Academy, creator of Cooperation Civics, pioneer of the Big Civics approach, chief author of the American Civics Academy’s curricular materials, senior fellow at the American Institute of Economic Research, and professor emeritus of Economics at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He is currently in his second term on the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.
He is formerly the vice president of curriculum and senior fellow at the Common Sense Society, where he created, authored, and co-directed its American Civics Project.
He received his doctorate in Economics in 1987 from the University of Virginia. He has published scholarly articles in a wide range of areas. His work has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the HFL Foundation, the Earhart Foundation, and the John R. Templeton Foundation.
In 2008 he received the St. Louis Business Journal’s Economic Educator of the year award. His book, The Moral Foundation of Economic Behavior (Oxford University Press, 2011), was selected one of CHOICE’s outstanding titles of 2012. His latest book is titled Why Culture Matters Most (Oxford University Press, 2019). He has given many seminars, workshops, and lectures on three continents. He frequently contributes to policy debates through radio and television interviews as well as in Op-Eds in outlets like the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Word on Business, The School Choice Advocate, Forbes, The Washington Times, and The Christian Science Monitor on topics ranging from social security, monetary policy, fiscal policy, judicial philosophy, education reform, and healthcare reform.
Petria Hoffpauir
Ms. Petria Hoffpauir is vice president of operations of the American Civics Academy.
From 2022-2024, she served as director of educational innovation at Common Sense Society, where she managed the production of its American Civics Project civics curriculum, as well as its multi-modal, in-person and digital professional development programs for teachers.
Prior to joining Common Sense Society, Hoffpauir served as assistant director of the Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism at Clemson University, where she oversaw daily operations, public communications, the institute’s conferences and events, as well as marketing, recruitment, and admissions for the Lyceum Scholars Program, a $10,000 scholarship program for students to explore the moral, political, and economic foundations of a free society.
She also served as director of fellowships at the Claremont Institute, coordinator of the Salvatori Center Program on Leo Strauss, teaching assistant for the Hertog Political Studies Program, and as assistant director of scheduling of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Additionally, she has taught courses on American politics and political philosophy at California State University, San Bernardino. She holds a B.A. in government from Skidmore College and an M.A. in politics from Claremont Graduate University, where she is currently a Ph.D. candidate.
Michael Munger, Ph.D.
Dr. Michael Munger is professor of Political Science, and Economics, at Duke University and trustee of the American Civics Academy. He has worked at the US Federal Trade Commission, Dartmouth College, University of Texas, and University of North Carolina before to moving Duke, where he chaired the Political Science Department from 2000 to 2010. Author of eight books, Munger is a past president of the Public Choice Society.
Joshua Mitchell, Ph.D.
Dr. Joshua Mitchell is currently a professor of political theory and trustee of the American Civics Academy. He has been chairman of the Government Department and was a member of the start-up team for Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Doha Qatar in 2005. During the 2008-2010 academic years, Dr. Mitchell took leave from Georgetown University, and was acting chancellor of The American University of Iraq-Sulaimani. His research interest lies in the relationship between political thought and theology in the West.
He has published articles in The Review of Politics, The Journal of Politics, The Journal of Religion, APSR, and Political Theory. In 1993, his book, Not by Reason Alone: Religion, History and Identity in Early Modern Political Thought, was published by the University of Chicago Press. A second book, The Fragility of Freedom: Tocqueville on Religion, Democracy, and American Future, was published in 1995, also by the University of Chicago Press. Dr. Mitchell’s book, Plato’s Fable: On the Moral Condition in Shadowy Times, was published by Princeton University Press in 2006. The University of Chicago Press also published his book, Tocqueville in Arabia: Dilemmas of the Democratic Age, in August 2013. More recently, his book, American Awakening: Identity Politics and Other Afflictions of Our Time¸ was published by Encounter Books (2020). He is currently working on a book-length manuscript entitled, The Gentle Seduction of Tyranny.
Murray Bessette, Ph.D.
Dr. Murray Bessette is a senior advisor in the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development at the U.S. Department of Education and co-founder and trustee of the American Civics Academy.
Previously, he served as director of academic programs at the Alexander Hamilton Society from 2024 to 2025, and senior vice president of education at Common Sense Society from 2021 to 2024. In this role, he was responsible for designing and implementing its fellowship programs, as well as directing its K-12 initiatives, which included a complete charter school curriculum, the American Civics Project, and a comprehensive series of teacher development programs—including seminars, workshops, and webinars, as well as digital courses and civics certification.
Prior to joining Common Sense Society, Bessette served as director of academic programs at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation from 2016 to 2021, where he established its academic programs in the lead up to the opening of the Victims of Communism Museum.
Before that, Bessette was a tenured associate professor at Morehead State University. He holds a doctorate in political science and a master’s in American government from Claremont Graduate University.