The Hoover Institution announced the 2024–25 class of its Veteran Fellowship Program (VFP). The class includes two West Point graduates, Jonathan “JD” Due ’98 and Mary L. Tobin ’03.
This is the fourth class since the fellowship was launched in fall of 2021. The 2024-25 group comprises ten veterans, representing five branches of the U.S. armed forces.
Veterans were selected based on demonstrated leadership qualities, success in their professional careers, the viability of their proposed capstone projects, and their shared values with the Hoover Institution, especially the commitment to advancing freedom.
The program is designed for military veterans who are motivated to effect meaningful change in their communities. During their time in the program, veteran fellows will have the opportunity to leverage the resources and expertise of Hoover and Stanford scholars, expand their networks, and advance efforts to find actionable solutions to policy challenges through their capstone projects.
All members of the VFP have served in the U.S. military within the past two decades, during the years surrounding the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the declaration of the war on terror. As demonstrated in previous cohorts, these veterans’ service to the nation is unremitting. Moreover, they come to Hoover with a high level of skills, dynamism, and intellectual curiosity to grapple with complex policy challenges.
Last year’s class took on a variety of policy challenges with their capstone projects, including work to leverage unused land owned by places of worship for affordable housing construction, introducing basic cognitive behavioral therapy to military training processes, and working to resettle and support Afghan migrants in U.S. communities.
“The defining characteristics of our U.S. military veterans make them natural leaders in a wide array of areas essential to the protection of democracy and national security to ensure that all are free to pursue the American dream,” said Hoover Institution director Condoleezza Rice. “The Hoover community will benefit greatly from the experience and wisdom acquired from their service to this nation.”
The fellowship program will involve various gatherings in the coming academic year at the Stanford University campus and Hoover’s Washington, D.C., office. These include the program launch in June 2024; a presentation of the fellows’ capstone project proposals to the VFP advisory council in September 2024; and three modules, in which they can work on their capstone projects and connect with other members of their cohort and the broader Hoover and Stanford communities. At the end of their one-year fellowship, members of the cohort are invited to attend Hoover’s Spring 2025 Retreat, which will provide them with an opportunity to engage with Hoover leadership and donors about their experience in the Veteran Fellowship Program.
Jonathan “JD” Due ’98
Jonathan “JD” Due ’98 is a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Army. He currently serves as the executive director of the Center of Military Transition at the Mason School of Business at William & Mary. Due has served extensively in the nonprofit space, including as the director of programs and scholarships at the Pat Tillman Foundation. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and holds a MA in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Mary L. Tobin ’03
Mary L. Tobin ’03 is a U.S. Army combat veteran with more than twenty years of leadership development, community engagement, and public speaking experience. She is the director of programs at More Perfect Union and previously served in the Biden-Harris administration as the senior advisor for wounded warrior, veterans, and military family initiatives for AmeriCorps. Tobin is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the New York Institute of Technology.
