Josh Distel is a 2011 graduate of Ashland University and the Ashbrook Scholar Program, earning a degree in History and Political Science. His senior year, he was awarded the James Madison Award. As a student, he served as a member of the Ashbrook Scholar Honor Cabinet and worked as an Ashbrook intern. After graduation, he was the assistant to Ashbrook’s Deputy Director, Roger Beckett. He was one of the first graduate students to attend the Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship at Hillsdale College. He earned his Master of Arts degree in Politics in 2014 after completing his graduate thesis on Winston Churchill’s essay, “Consistency in Politics.”
Prior to joining the Ashbrook Center in 2022, he was the Executive Assistant and Office Manager at The Buckeye Institute in Columbus, Ohio. His writing has appeared in Finest Hour: The Journal of Winston Churchill.
In his role as Alumni Relations and Citizen Programs Manager, Josh works to grow and strengthen relationships with Ashbrook’s alumni and strengthen citizens’ capacity for self-government. In his free-time, he enjoys reading, traveling, woodworking, brewing beer (but it has been a while), and playing with dogs. He and his wife Kristin, also an Ashland alum, live in Athens, Ohio.