How to Influence a University Without Anyone Noticing

Tao Tan  March 04, 2026 1 min read

How to Influence a University Without Anyone Noticing

Tao Tan 
AEI

The fact is that foundations that have successfully influenced academia have learned to use a set of levers that are precisely calibrated to work effectively within the existing structures of higher education. These levers align with academia’s distinctive norms, work with natural intellectual incentives, and are based in a keen understanding of the organizational psychology within colleges and universities.

What follows is a study of that architecture—a picture of ten of the levers that foundations can use to influence scholarship.

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