This is the motive and purpose of my writing: *the projection of an ideal man*. The portrayal of a moral ideal, as my ultimate literary goal, as an end in itself--to which any didactic, intellectual or philosophical values contained in a novel are only the means.

2007 Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest

Atlas Shrugged Essay Winners

Winners:

Atlas Shrugged Cover

First Place

  • John DeWald, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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Second Place

  • Garrett Gates, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME Ben O’Neill, Australian National University, Acton, ACT, Australia
  • Christian Tarsney, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN

Third Place

  • Justin Hack, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada
  • Tzipora Henig, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Ramat-G, Israel
  • Margaret Kirkland, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
  • Brian St. Clair, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA
  • Lisa Wang, MIT, Cambridge, MA

Finalists

  • Michael Aikins, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
  • Charles Arnone, The University of Texas School of Law, Austin, TX
  • Walker Asserson, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
  • Gil Bento, Brookdale, County College of Monmouth, Lincroft, NJ
  • Andrew Buchwach, DePaul University, Chicago, IL
  • Nicole Ciandella, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
  • Darryl DeWeese, USC, Los Angeles, CA
  • David Gilmour, Berea College, Berea, KY
  • Jonathan Giuffrida, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
  • Joe Goodwill, University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria, South Africa
  • Megan Henricks, Denison University, Granville, OH
  • Daniel Klayton, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
  • Ryan Krause, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
  • Matthew Lee, Harvard College, Cambridge, MA
  • Summer Lindsey, Columbia University, New York, NY
  • Colin McLafferty, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
  • Julianna Parlock, Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, IN
  • Matthew Parry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Melinda Ricketts, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
  • Nicole Vance, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

Semi-Finalists

  • Drake Ballew, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA
  • Vanea Bell, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
  • Samantha Blasbalg, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI
  • Ethan Blevins, Brigham Young University Idaho, Rexburg, ID
  • Nathan Brandon, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA
  • Brian Embry, University of Houston, Houston, TX
  • Eugenia Fuchs, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
  • Sarah Gregory, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, New York, NY
  • Ian Kryshak, University of the Arts - Bremen, Bremen, Germany
  • Cadmus Kyrala, University Of Birmingham-CELS, Birmingham, United Kingdom
  • Randy Millard, Durham Business School, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
  • Bobby Ryan Newberry, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
  • Kira Newman, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
  • LaVan Overfield, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN
  • Julie Schwartzwald, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
  • Robert Smith, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT
  • Pamela Stacey, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
  • Lana Tong, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
  • Ann Wang, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
  • Rebecca Yeager, Indiana University Southeast, New Albany, IN