Ronald Reagan. Aside from political figures, the board of trustees includes leaders in business and industry, including Haim Saban, Robert Bass, Hanzade Doğan Boyner, Paul L. Cejas, W. Edmund Clark, Abby Joseph Cohen, Betsy Cohen, Susan Crown, Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr., Jason Cummins, Paul Desmarais Jr., Kenneth M. Duberstein, Glenn Hutchins, and Philip H. Knight (chairman emeritus of Nike, Inc). Starting with the 1990 election cycle, Brookings employees gave $853,017 to Democratic candidates and $26,104 to Republican candidates. In total, since 1990, 96% of its political donations have gone to Democrats. Presidents Since its incorporation as the Brookings Institution in 1927, it has been led by accomplished academics and public servants. Brookings has had eight presidents, including one in acting capacity. The current interim president is Amy Liu, who replaced Ted Gayer, who began serving on an acting basis since June 12, 2022. Harold G. Moulton, 1927–1952 Robert D. Calkins, 1952–1967 Kermit Gordon, 1967–1976 Gilbert Y. Steiner (acting), 1976–1977 Bruce K. MacLaury, 1977–1995 Michael Armacost, 1995–2002 Strobe Talbott, 2002–2017 John R. Allen, 2017–2022 Ted Gayer (acting), 2022-2022 Amy Liu (acting), 2022–present Notable scholars Notable current and former Brookings scholars include former Federal Reserve chairs Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke; former Federal Reserve vice chairs Donald Kohn, Alice Rivlin, and Alan Blinder; former chairs of the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) Jason Furman and Martin Neil Baily; former CEA members Sandra Black, Jay Shambaugh, and James H. Stock; former director of the Congressional Budget Office Douglas Elmendorf; former US secretary of education Arne Duncan; former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Martin Indyk; dean of the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy Susan M. Collins; former Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler; Washington Post columnist E. J. Dionne; Wall Street Journal columnist William Galston; former NSC official Fiona Hill; and Eurasia analyst Igor Danchenko. Research programs Center for Middle East Policy In 2002, the Brookings Institution established the Center for Middle East Policy "to promote a better understanding of the policy choices facing American decision-makers in the Middle East". Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy In 2006, the Brookings Institution established the Brookings-Tsinghua Center (BTC) for Public Policy as a partnership between the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC and Tsinghua University's School of Public Policy and Management in Beijing, China. The Center seeks to produce research in areas of fundamental importance for China's development and for