Jeffrey Rogers Hummel is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and Associate Professor of Economics at San Jose State University. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Texas at Austin, and he has been Associate Adjunct Professor of Economics and History at Golden Gate University, Publications Director at the Independent Institute, William C. Bark National Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and a U.S. Army tank platoon leader.

A contributor to numerous scholarly volumes, Professor Hummel is the author of the book, Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men: A History of the American Civil War. He also wrote the scripts for the audiotape programs, The U.S. Constitution (narrated by Walter Cronkite) and American Wars (narrated by George C. Scott). His articles have appeared in the Journal of Economic History, Texas Law Review, International Philosophical Quarterly, The Independent Review, Review of Austrian Economics, Journal of Libertarian Studies, Reason, and numerous other publications. He has contributed to the Encyclopedia of American Business History and Biography and the Independent Institute book, Arms, Politics, and the Economy.