Overview

• Heritage announced Feulner’s death on July 18 at age 83 without disclosing the time or cause.
• Feulner co-founded the Heritage Foundation in 1973 and served as its longest-tenured president from 1977 to 2013, returning briefly in 2017–18 to solidify its role as a model think tank.
• He also established the Republican Study Committee in the early 1970s, building it into the largest House conservative caucus that pairs Heritage’s policy research with congressional strategy.
• Heritage president Kevin Roberts, board chair Barb Van Andel-Gaby and RSC chair August Pfluger have vowed to extend his institutional innovations through new collaborations centered on Project 2025.
• His emphasis on concise, timely policy briefs and leadership mentorship set the template for embedding conservative ideas into media and policymaking processes.