Brian Kogelmann's Mercatus Fellowship Story
How a Mercatus Fellowship Transformed Brian Kogelmann’s Career
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efore the Adam Smith Fellowship, Brian Kogelmann's academic work was grounded in philosophy. Through the fellowship, he encountered a broader world of economics, political economy, and public choice theory. "I'm an interdisciplinary researcher", he says. "There's economics and political science making their way into every paper I write. And if I didn't do the Adam Smith Fellowship, it's not clear how I would have encountered those ideas."
Brian double-majored in philosophy and political science, then began a PhD in philosophy at the University of Arizona. In his second year, he applied to the Adam Smith Fellowship, which brings together doctoral students from different universities and disciplines. Through discussions with peers and leading scholars, fellows explore how market process economics, public choice theory, and institutional analysis illuminate questions about human flourishing and social change.
There's economics and political science making their way into every paper I write. And if I didn't do the Adam Smith Fellowship, it's not clear how I would have encountered those ideas.
"You learn a ton of economics just from hearing Chris Coyne and Pete Boettke talk," he says. "You get an intuitive sense of how it works."
His fellowship experience was not only intellectual but social as well; "It was some of the most fun I had in grad school. It was a perfect combination of intellectual conversations about interesting stuff. Plus, there were a lot of other graduate students that were my age who were also very smart, interested in these same things. You had fun at lunches, you had fun at dinner, you'd stay up after dinner and keep talking about the ideas till one in the morning."
Buchanan's probably had the biggest impact on how I think about the world, followed by Hayek. In every question I approach, I try to think about it like a political economist.
Mercatus fellowships gave Brian the tools and a platform to stand out in a competitive academic field. "I think I know a lot of economics for a philosopher," he says. "A lot more economics than most political philosophers, and I think it's all because of [the Adam Smith Fellowship]." The fellowship also shaped the way he thinks. "Buchanan's probably had the biggest impact on how I think about the world, followed by Hayek. In every question I approach, I try to think about it like a political economist. And to me, to think about the issue like a political economist means to think about what Buchanan and Hayek would say."
The Mercatus fellowship experience helped define his career. "It changed a lot. I think I'm known as a pretty interdisciplinary scholar. I've published in political science journals, economics journals, and started a few PPE programs at different universities across the country. I'm pretty confident to say that I couldn't have done it without Mercatus."
The fellowship program opened a space for serious, open engagement with ideas that shaped his intellectual approach and allowed him to meet people who see the world differently. "That kind of set the tone for every Mercatus seminar I've been in, there have been people who radically disagree with classical liberalism sitting in it. And I think they always feel welcome."
I think the network might be one of the most valuable things the Adam Smith Fellowship does.
Much of his work is co-authored with economists and political scientists he met through Mercatus, and he sees that network as one of the fellowship's most important benefits. "It matters for co-authorship. I think it matters a lot for just the academic review process, just knowing that there's a lot of people I know out there who think in the same sort of way. I think the network might be one of the most valuable things the Adam Smith Fellowship does."
Today he is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Political Science at Purdue University and an Affiliated Fellow at the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Studies in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. "It was the greatest experience of my PhD. I learned more through my time in the Smith Fellowship than I did in most PhD coursework and literally changed the direction of my academic life."