Thomas G. West

Thomas G. West (born 1945) is an American academic. He is a professor of Politics at Hillsdale College, and the author of three books. Early life and education West was born in 1945. He received his B.A. from Cornell University in 1967 and his Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University in 1974. He served in the Vietnam War as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1969–70. Career West taught at the University of Dallas from 1974 to 2011. Since 2011, he has been a professor of Politics at Hillsdale College. West was Bradley Resident Scholar at The Heritage Foundation from 1988 to 1989, and a Salvatori Visiting Scholar at Claremont McKenna College from 1990 to 1992. He is a director and senior fellow of the Claremont Institute, which has supported and publicized his research. He has translated, with Grace Starry West, Plato's Charmides, Euthyphro, Apology of Socrates, and Crito, as well as Aristophanes' Clouds. He has also published Vindicating the Founders, an analysis and defense of American political thought in the founding of the United States in the 18th century.