AYN RAND INSTITUTE THE CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF OBJECTIVISM

The Ayn Rand Institute (ARI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization, founded in 1985 and named for the novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand (1905-1982). Rand was an advocate of the virtues of independence, honesty, rationality, productiveness, integrity and self-esteem. These are values that we and our contributors believe are worth inculcating in young people, and the reports that we receive from teachers, students and parents attest to the accuracy of our belief. ARI supports high school students and teachers by providing free classroom sets of Ayn Rand’s beloved classic novels The Fountainhead, Anthem and Atlas Shrugged — already long-established staples of high school and college curricula — as well as free study guides and other teaching support materials. At a time when many schools face severe budget restrictions and cannot purchase complete sets of books for classroom use, this program is of enormous value to teachers and students alike. ARI also sponsors annual essay contests for high school and college students. This the largest such educational competition in the United States. ARI also awards grants to promising young college students to support dissertations, fellowships and scholarly books and articles in fields ranging from philosophy to physics. ARI also maintains the Ayn Rand Archives, the collection of Ayn Rand's papers, photographs and other items of historic interest. These are made available to historians and other scholarly researchers who increasingly utilize the Archives to supplement their research into various topics in literature and modern intellectual history.