Nicholas Institute Board of Advisors

Rev. Richard Cizik
The Reverend Richard Cizik is Vice President for Governmental Affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals, which is the most distinguished evangelical organization of its kind in the United States, with a membership of 51 denominations, 43,000 churches, and 27 million adherents.

His primary responsibilities, as the most senior staff member of the Association with 24 years of service, include providing direction over the Association’s public-policy stands and advocacy before the Congress of the United States, the White House and the Supreme Court. Additionally, Rev. Cizik writes and edits his own monthly political newsletter, NAE Washington Insight, and holds leadership training programs such as the Washington Insight Briefing, Christian Student Leadership Conference, and special events such as the 2003 "Consultation on Islam."

Rev. Cizik has been involved in international religious liberty causes for the Association since 1980, when he urged policy-makers to add "religion" to the annual human rights report. The U.S. Department of State recognized this significant change by co-hosting with the NAE and other groups an "International Religious Freedom Conference," with major addresses by President Ronald Reagan and the Secretary of State. He proposed to the Reagan Administration a major address on religious freedom and the nuclear arms race which eventuated in the "Evil Empire" address of President Reagan to the NAE annual convention in March, 1983. One of the principal drafters of NAE's 1996 "Statement of Conscience on Worldwide Religious Persecution," Rev. Cizik is frequently quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, and regularly appears on CNN Headline News, C-SPAN, PBS "Ethics & Religion News Weekly," WORLD NET, Voice of America, and many other media outlets.

He is regularly called upon to speak on topics as diverse as the Bush Administration’s "Faith-Based & Community Initiatives," Evangelicals and Human Rights, and "The New Evangelicals: Who Are They?" His principled yet collegial manner on behalf of the cause of freedom has earned him a reputation as a diplomat and peacemaker. In 1996, he served as professional staff to the "Religious Leader’s Delegation to the People's Republic of China," at the invitation of President Clinton. In 2002, Rev. Cizik was a participant in Climate Forum 2002, at Oxford, England, which produced the "Oxford Declaration" on global warming; and in 2003, participated in the Qatar-American Conference on Democracy & Free Trade in Doha, Qatar.

His background includes a B.A. (cum laude) in Political Science from Whitworth College; M.A. in Public Affairs from the George Washington University School of Public & International Affairs; Master of Divinity (Master of Divinity) from Denver Seminary, and overseas studies at the National Political Science University, Taipei, Taiwan, and the Taipei Language Institute, Taipei, Taiwan. Post-graduate research awards include a Scottish-Rite Graduate Fellowship to George Washington University and a Rotary International Graduate Fellowship to the Republic of China. He has published over one hundred articles in scholarly publications such as the Civil Rights Commission Journal, books such as The High Cost of Indifference: Can Christians Afford Not to Act (Regal Books), and contributed to On Christian Freedom (University Press of America), and the Dictionary of Christianity in America (Inter-Varsity Press).
Among the Advisory Boards that he serves upon include the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Marriage Savers, and the Institute on Religion and Public Policy. He maintains a very active preaching and teaching ministry around the world. Married to Virginia Jackson Lutz for twenty years, and the father of two boys, Rich, Jr. and John, ages thirteen and ten.