Archivist of the United States

Bradford Wilson

Bradford P. Wilson, the 12th Archivist of the United States, was nominated by President Donald J. Trump in March 2026 and confirmed by the United States Senate on August 7, 2026. His previous position was as the James Wilson Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Civic Thought in the Center for Constitutional Studies at Utah Valley University. In 2024, he retired from his long-time position as Executive Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, Lecturer in Politics, and Fellow of Forbes College at Princeton University. Before joining Princeton University, Wilson spent eight years as Acting President and then Executive Director of the National Association of Scholars. He has served as a presidential appointee on the Board of Trustees of the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation and was a Senior Research Fellow in the Witherspoon Institute, President of the Association for the Study of Free Institutions, and Fulbright Senior Scholar in Russia. From 1984 to 1987, he served as Research Associate to two Chief Justices of the United States, Warren E. Burger and William H. Rehnquist. Wilson received his BA from North Carolina State University, his MA from Northern Illinois University, and his PhD in Politics from The Catholic University of America.