Convo: David Strom September 23, 2005

David Strom, president of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota and a 1987 graduate of Carleton College, will present a convocation at 10:50 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 23, at Carleton?s Skinner Memorial Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.

Strom is among the state's most influential conservatives. He has worked for the Taxpayers League since 1997, when he founded the nonprofit organization with his former college roommate Darrell McKigney and entrepreneur Mike Wigley. He became president of the League in January of 2004.

However, Strom did not grow up conservative or particularly outspoken. He arrived at Carleton in 1982, the shy son of two astronomy professors. Politically, he was a "soft, vague socialist." Personally, he was a "total intellectual geek" who studied political philosophy. "Carleton made me a conservative," he says. Strom believes that Minnesota reflects a nationwide conservative shift, in which people want government to show compassion and do good?but distrust its ability to do so.

The Taxpayers League is one of the largest and most successful state-based advocacy organizations in the country, with a budget approaching $1 million a year collected entirely through donations. The League's mission is to fight for lower taxes, smaller and less intrusive government, and to educate citizens regarding free market principles. The Taxpayers League also has a Foundation; a 501(c)3 charitable organization that does research, publishes pamphlets and papers, and holds forums educating citizens regarding the importance of free market principles to liberty and prosperity.

One of the League?s projects is the Minnesota Education League, a conservative nonprofit, nonpartisan grassroots organization dedicated to increasing real accountability, student achievement and parental choice in education. Since its inception in 2001, the Education League has become a voice for parents and taxpayers who support education reform. The Minnesota Education League recently unveiled "Making the Grade: Improving Performance and Returning Accountability to Our Schools," a guide informing Minnesotans about spending and results in the state's K-12 public education system.

Strom was born in Boston, moving at age four to Long Island, N.Y., and at age eight Tucson, Ariz., where he lived until he came Minnesota to attend Carleton. He majored in political science and earned an M.A. in political philosophy from Duke University. He has taught political philosophy at Duke University, North Carolina State University, Carleton College and the University of St. Thomas.

Strom has a live radio show, ?Taxpayers League Live,? on Saturdays from 9 to 11 a.m. on radio station WWTC AM 1280 out of Eagan, Minn.

For more information and disability accommodations, call Carleton?s college relations office at (507) 646-4308.