Finally our friend Yuval Levin has an accomplishment under his belt.

Yuval Levin is already a nationally recognized political thinker—he’s a former White House and Congressional staffer, prominent author, conservative commentator, and editor of National Affairs, a newly established quarterly on public policy.

But as he stood behind a 30-foot wooden table earlier this summer in Foster Hall, surrounded by an audience of faculty, friends, and students, the 33-year-old PhD candidate in the John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought couldn’t help but feel a little nervous as he prepared for the oral defense of his dissertation.

He felt in command of his subject, which concerns political differences in the 18th century that helped shape the modern distinctions between liberals and conservatives. But speaking to such a distinguished audience gave Levin some pause.