Alex Shieh 

Alex Shieh is a Palantir alumnus and Founder who left Brown University after his sophomore year to pursue independent business opportunities. In his two years at Brown, Mr. Shieh was an undergraduate student majoring in computer science, and the publisher for the Brown Spectator, a campus student newspaper he revived.

During those years, Mr. Shieh became interested in Brown’s financial situation, noting that the University’s projected tuition hike was among the highest in the US and was accompanied by cuts in services and a $46 million budget deficit. He emailed nearly 4,000 Brown staff members with a DOGE-style request for them to explain their responsibilities and roles. This triggered a stream of disciplinary measures from the Office of Conduct and Community Standards, on grounds that included emotional harm, invasion of privacy misrepresenting himself as a journalist, violating the IT policy, and violating Brown’s trademark.

Mr Shieh enlisted support from FIRE (The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) and his mentor Glenn Loury – and was ultimately cleared of wrongdoing at a disciplinary hearing. Despite this ordeal, Mr. Shieh continued to testify in the media and before Congress about the rising cost of tuition, ultimately leading to a congressional subpoena of Brown’s financial records. This year, he decided not to return to his studies at Brown and instead pursue an independent career.

For his courage to speak his mind against a massive bureaucracy and re-imagine his life outside its confines, the Columbia Academic Freedom Council is honored to present Mr Alex Shieh with the 2025 Academic Freedom Award.