John Hood is president of the John William Pope Foundation, a Raleigh-based grantmaker. He is also the author of 10 books — ranging from economic histories and political biographies to fantasy novels — and teaches at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. Since 1986, Hood has written a syndicated column that now runs in the Winston-Salem Journal, Greensboro News & Record, Wilmington Star-News, Triangle Business Journal, and newspapers in 50 other North Carolina communities. He’s also written for The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, National Review, Readers’ Digest, The New Republic, and dozens of other newspapers and magazines, and appeared on CNN, Fox News, NBC, and National Public Radio. Hood chairs the North Carolina Institute of Political Leadership, co-chairs the North Carolina Leadership Forum, and serves as vice-chair of North Carolina Public Radio, State Policy Network, and the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. Hood received his B.A. in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned a M.A. in liberal studies from UNC-Greensboro.