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Matt Mayer

President

Matt A. Mayer is the President of the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, Ohio’s premier free market think tank. Based in Columbus, Ohio, the Buckeye Institute has provided the research and solutions to Ohio’s toughest public policy challenges in economic freedom and competitiveness, job creation and entrepreneurship, and government transparency and accountability for over 17 years. Mayer also serves as a Visiting Fellow with The Heritage Foundation, America’s top think tank, where he writes and speaks on national security issues and heads the Homeland Security and the States project. Mayer’s book, Homeland Security and Federalism: Protecting America from Outside the Beltway, came out in June 2009.

Before joining the Buckeye Institute, Mayer provided strategic policy advice to clients ranging from international corporations to elected officials, and served as an Adjunct Professor at The Ohio State University where he taught a course comparing responses within the transatlantic alliance to terrorist threats. Mayer was a senior official at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under the leadership of Secretaries Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff where he provided DHS leaders with policy and operational advice as the Counselor to the Deputy Secretary and where he headed the $3.5 billion terrorism preparedness office charged with developing initiatives to transform America to meet the demands of a post-9/11 environment.

Mayer came to DHS from Colorado where he served Governor Bill Owens as the Deputy Director for the Department of Regulatory Agencies. Mayer co-developed Colorado’s Regulatory Notice system that utilizes electronic mail to notify stakeholders of all proposed regulations before those regulations become final. The Regulatory Notice system earned the Denver Business Journal’s 2003 Innovative Product/Service Award for making government more transparent and accountable. Prior to joining Governor Owens’ team, Mayer served as a deputy in Colorado Senator Wayne Allard’s reelection effort in 2002, and ran a widely hailed congressional campaign for a first-time candidate. As a result of his campaign work, the Colorado Statesman selected Mayer for its 2002 Rising Star award. Mayer also practiced law in Ohio and Colorado for several years.

Mayer was a 2007 Lincoln Fellow with The Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy and a 2006 American Marshall Memorial Fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the United States. In September 2005, The Ohio State University Alumni Association awarded Mayer the William Thompson Oxley Award for early career achievement. At the age of 29, the Denver Business Journal recognized Mayer as one of Colorado’s young leaders by naming him to its “Forty Under 40” list. In 1997, Mayer was the recipient of the ABA-BNA Excellence in Labor & Employment Law Award, and recognized as a Public Service Fellow. He has written articles for law reviews, public policy journals, newspapers, and Townhall.com, and appeared on Fox News, C-SPAN, ONN, and other major media outlets.

Mayer graduated cum laude from the University of Dayton, with a double major in Philosophy and Psychology, and received his law degree from The Ohio State University College of Law where he was the Editor in Chief of the Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution. He resides in Dublin, Ohio, with his wife and two daughters.

Recent articles by Matt Mayer

• The Constitution, Federal Legislation, and Ohio
  October 12th, 2009   Center for Economic Freedom Viewpoint

• Postmortem: Another Empty Promise from Inside the Beltway
  July 12th, 2007   Other Viewpoint
  By Matt A. Mayer