Policy Staff

Joseph G. Lehman

President

Joseph G. Lehman is president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, an independent, nonprofit research and educational institute based in Michigan. The Mackinac Center is the largest of more than 50 affiliated think tanks that focus primarily on state economic policy.

Mr. Lehman first joined the Mackinac Center in 1995. He later became vice president for communications at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. In 2000 he returned to the Mackinac Center as its executive vice president. He became its president in 2008.

Mr. Lehman is an author and commentator on public policy. He has been interviewed on broadcast outlets ranging from National Public Radio to the Glenn Beck Program. His comments have been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, National Journal, National Review, Investor's Business Daily, Detroit Free Press, The Detroit News, and nearly every daily Michigan newspaper.

He has addressed audiences at the National Conference of State Legislatures annual meeting, the Detroit Regional Chamber's annual Mackinac Conference, the Asian Resource Bank meeting in Hong Kong, and the African Leadership Conference in Nairobi.

Through the Mackinac Center's biannual Leadership Conference, he has trained more than 590 think tank executives from 47 states and 47 countries in strategic planning, communications, and fundraising.

He is a director of the Chicago-based Sam Adams Alliance, the Legislative Education Action Drive Foundation which studies school choice, and USA Votes, a firm that provides public access to legislative data. He is also an advisory board member of the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity.

Prior to his public policy career, Mr. Lehman was an engineer and project manager for nine years at the Dow Chemical Company. He is an engineering graduate from the University of Illinois and a registered professional engineer.

Mr. Lehman and his wife, Karen, are the founders of Midland County Habitat for Humanity. He twice received the Dow Chemical Vice President's Award for Community Service. He is an ordained deacon in the Presbyterian Church in America.