Roy Blunt
Executive Fellow; Former U.S. Senator from Missouri
Building on a background as a public servant, university president, and teacher, former Senator Roy Blunt served in Congress from 1997 to 2023, first in the House of Representatives where he was Republican Whip from 2003 to 2009. He was elected to Senate leadership in 2011, his first year in the Senate, and served in elected leadership for all 12 years of his Senate service, including four years as a Republican policy chairman. Blunt recently completed his second term in the U.S. Senate.
Throughout his career, Sen. Blunt developed long-lasting, bipartisan partnerships which led to major legislative achievements in health care, infrastructure, and national security. He worked across the aisle to focus resources and awareness on issues that impact millions of Americans, increasing funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by nearly 60%, and quintupling funding for Alzheimer’s disease research. Sen. Blunt worked with Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) to get the most transformative mental health legislation in 50 years, the Excellence in Mental Health Act, signed into law by then-President Obama in 2014. Sen. Blunt co-chaired the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus with Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and the two worked together to reauthorize the Victims of Child Abuse Act in 2014, 2018, and 2022.
The Missouri Department of Education honored Sen. Blunt with their Pioneer in Education Award in 2022.
Sen. Blunt is married to Abigail Blunt, who is a trustee of the Children’s Inn at NIH, a leader on the Executive Council of the Prevent Cancer Foundation’s Congressional Families Cancer Prevention Program, a board member of Ford’s Theatre Society, and a member of the Economic Club of Washington.