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Washington, D.C. — The Cato Institute Board of Directors, in a meeting held earlier this month, elected Rebecca Dunn as a new director.

“Rebecca Dunn has been part of the Cato family for twenty years,” said Peter N. Goettler, president and CEO of the Cato Institute. “We are privileged to have such an optimistic and upbeat champion of liberty serving on our board.”

Rebecca Walter Dunn, an early advocate for Cato’s work on privatizing Social Security and efforts to reach young people, started attending Cato events as a supporter in 1997. She was one of the longest-serving board members of the James Madison Institute, a state-level think tank in Florida, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. In 2001, she was appointed to the Florida Judicial Nominating Commission.

“I believe Cato is often viewed as the ‘go to’ resource on libertarian thought, be it for the curious student, the conscientious lawmaker, the reporting journalist or the networks’ commentators,” said Dunn. “Their online presence, extensive publications and legion of scholars have made them unequalled in this area.”

“No words could adequately capture the vital contribution that Rebecca has made in promoting a free society,” said Cato Board Chairman Robert A. Levy. “The entire Cato board looks forward to working with her in this capacity.”

In 2014, Rebecca and Bill Dunn established the Dunn Libertarian Leadership Project at Cato, which supports substantial outreach efforts to young people through Cato’s sister site, Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org.

“The generous support of Rebecca and Bill enabled Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org to grow dramatically and extend our reach, bringing the ideas of political liberty to a global audience of young people new to the libertarian tradition,” said Aaron Powell, director and editor of Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org.