Jason Ross, Program Director

Jason Ross is Director of Education Programs for the Bill of Rights Institute. He designed the curriculum for and directs the Constitutional Academy, a college-level introduction into America’s Founding principles which is geared toward advanced high school students. In addition, he directs the series of academic seminars for high school teachers that the Bill of Rights Institute co-sponsors with Liberty Fund. He has also served as Project Director for the Bill of Rights Institute’s NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop at Mount Vernon, and as director of the Being an American Essay Contest. Jason earned his Ph.D. in political theory from the Department of Government at Georgetown University in 2008, and he earned a Masters Degree in Public Policy from Pepperdine University in 2001. He is the recipient of numerous academic awards and fellowships, including the Richard M. Weaver Fellowship sponsored by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, the Humane Studies Fellowship sponsored by the Institute for Humane Studies, and the Civitas Fellowship sponsored by the Center for Public Justice. He has published reviews and essays in The Review of Politics, The Journal of Religion and Society, and The University Bookman. He also serves as an adjunct professor of history at Pepperdine University’s Washington DC campus.

William Rhatican, Master Teacher

William Rhatican is an Adjunct Instructor in American History at Northern Virginia Community College. He recently retired after eight years as a history, government, and Advanced Placement Government teacher at West Potomac High School, where he was named “Teacher of the Year” by the students for three of the five years they gave the award. He worked with the Bill of Rights Institute as master teacher at the Constitutional Academy in 2007 and 2008. He also edited three books on American History and Government authored by his students, and had his own essay on Arthur Lee of Virginia published in the Historic Alexandria Quarterly. Before becoming a teacher, he spent thirty years in and around the national government, having served as a special assistant to two presidents of the United States and as press secretary for three cabinet officers.