Chapman University Presidential Fellow Mark Skousen has been named the first Doti-Spogli Chair in Free Enterprise at the Argyros School of Business and Economics.
Creation of the endowed chair was announced in May and is supported by a donation from former U.S. Ambassador Ron Spogli. The one-year renewable appointment – co-named in honor of Chapman president emeritus and economist Jim Doti – recognizes a faculty member whose research or outreach spotlights the benefits of economic freedom and the policies that extend it.
“I am deeply honored by this appointment and the faith that Dr. Doti and Ambassador Spogli have placed in me to promote free enterprise through teaching, lectures, book writing, and giving awards,” Skousen says. “I look forward to teaching classes at Chapman that encourage a positive view of free enterprise, and to arrange for the faculty and student awards each year.”
Skousen was named a Presidential Fellow in 2014. As Doti-Spogli chairholder, he will develop and teach a course introducing students to fundamental texts and exploring the impact of free enterprise. Additionally, he will administer and award the annual Doti-Spogli Student Prize and the Doti-Spogli Faculty Prize for contributions to the advancement of free enterprise.
“We are pleased that our students will have the opportunity to learn free enterprise principles as part of their education at Chapman, thanks to the Doti-Spogli Chair,” says Argyros Dean Henrik Cronqvist.
For more than 40 years, Skousen has been editor of Forecasts & Strategies, an investment newsletter. He taught economics and finance at several universities before coming to Chapman, where he won the “My Favorite Professor” Award in 2019. He has been a corporate consultant and written op-eds for Forbes, the Wall Street Journal and other outlets.
Doti met Spogli in Italy, where the latter served as ambassador in the mid-2000s, and a friendship rooted in intellectual discourse bloomed. Spogli is the co-founder of Freeman Spogli & Co., one of the leading middle market private equity investors in the United States. When the ambassador decided he wanted to support Chapman, Doti suggested the idea of establishing an endowed chair.
