About US
The Freedom Center was founded in 2008 and is today a University Center in the Office for Research, Innovation & Impact. It provides research, teaching, and programming that is grounded in individual freedom and honors people’s right to constructively disagree.
OUR MISSION
OUR VISION
To draw from thought-leaders in philosophy, politics, economics, law, and ethics to enhance our understanding of the elements that shape individual and societal prosperity. Our scholars include post-doctoral fellows, Ph.D. students in philosophy, and visiting and research fellows we host from universities worldwide.
OUR IMPACT
The Center’s impact comes through research, publications, graduate education, academic programs, and major community events. In all we do, we are committed to integrating multiple disciplinary perspectives, training critical thinkers and fostering constructive public debate.
OUR LEADERSHIP
Mary Rigdon (right), Director of the Freedom Center and Associate Professor in the Department of Political Economy and Moral Science at the University of Arizona, is a nationally recognized expert on gender equity.
Saura Masconale (left) is Associate Director at the University of Arizona Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Economy and Moral Science, and Affiliated Faculty in the James E. Rogers College of Law.
A Brief History
The Freedom Center was founded in 2008, then housed in the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences. Its Founding Director, David Schmitz, also founded the Political Economy & Moral Science department within the University’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences. Following the Center’s 5-year review in 2019, the Center was promoted to the status of University Center at the recommendation of the external review committee. The Center is now housed in the Office of Research, Innovation, and Impact.
Since its founding, the Center has experienced great successes including establishing their own flagship journal with the industry’s highest paid circulation in the country, Social Philosophy & Policy, founding a series of lectures open to the public, students and staff, breaking open the barriers to charged political topics by inviting leaders in various industries and with differing perspectives to publicized Freedom Center Debate series, creating new dual-enrollment courses on Ethics, Economy & Entrepreneurship to help engage high school students around the state, among other milestones.
Today
Today, we champion the importance of healthy disagreement, fostering spaces where diverse perspectives challenge and enrich our understanding. Today, we push boundaries through groundbreaking research that tackles pressing issues like the gender-wage gap and other societal constraints. Today, we expand our impact beyond national borders, building a global community committed to exploring freedom's potential. Today marks the first step in sharing the transformative power of freedom with everyone.
Mary Rigdon
Freedom Center Director and Associate Professor of Political Economy and Moral Science
Mary Rigdon, Director of the Freedom Center and Associate Professor in the Department of Political Economy and Moral Science at the University of Arizona, is a nationally recognized expert on gender equity. Her recent work focuses on understanding gender differences in competitiveness and the role this plays in the persistent gender wage gap. Mary’s work is supported by the National Science Foundation and has been published in top scientific journals, including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Phil Trans B, and Evolution and Human Behavior. Her research has been covered by local, national, and international media, including interviews with UArizona News, a special feature in the Financial Post, KJZZ’s The Show (Phx, AZ), and KVOA Channel 4 News (Tucson, AZ). Mary has presented this research in the National Science Foundation’s Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Distinguished Lecture Series, and she was competitively selected to present her research at the 2023 SXSW UArizona Wonder House.
Saura Masconale
Freedom Center Associate Director, Assistant Professor of Political Economy and Moral Science, James E. Rogers College of Law Affiliated Faculty
Saura Masconale is Associate Director at the University of Arizona Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Economy and Moral Science, and Affiliated Faculty in the James E. Rogers College of Law. At the Freedom Center, she is also in charge of the Master of Legal Studies, Law & Economics concentration, which the Center cosponsors with the James E. Rogers College of Law. Saura was also competitively selected for the University of Arizona Academic Leadership Institute in 2021-22.
Saura holds a doctoral degree in law and economics from LUISS Guido Carli University (Rome) and a J.D. from University of Bologna. Prior to joining the Freedom Center, she taught at the University of Chicago Law School and the University of Notre Dame Law School. Before entering into academia, she practiced law at Clifford Chance LLC, an international law firm headquartered in London.
