Kevin Roberts, a graduate of the Virginia Tech Department of History, has been named the next president of the Heritage Foundation. He will become only the seventh president in the think tank’s 48-year history later this year.

Roberts currently serves as the chief executive officer of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an Austin-based nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute and the largest state think tank in the nation. Under Roberts’ leadership, the think tank more than doubled in size. He also expanded its influence nationwide, opening an office in Washington, D.C., so the think tank’s research might better inform federal policy debates. 

As president of the Heritage Foundation, Roberts will continue to lead policy research efforts on many of the issues he championed at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, including education, health care, border security, and election integrity.  

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to lead the Heritage Foundation and honored the board selected me as its next president,” Roberts said. “Heritage has led the conservative movement with distinction and its policy solutions have improved the lives of our fellow citizens. I look forward to continuing this legacy and addressing the challenges we face today and in the future.”

A lifelong educator, Roberts earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, a master’s degree in history from Virginia Tech, and his Ph.D. in American history from the University of Texas.

In 2006, after several years of teaching history at the collegiate level, Roberts left the University of Texas to found John Paul the Great Academy, a co-ed, K-12 Catholic liberal arts school in Lafayette, Louisiana. He served as the academy’s president and headmaster for seven years. In 2013, he became president of Wyoming Catholic College.

Roberts and his wife have four children. They will relocate to the Washington, D.C., area.