Columbus, OH – Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute, received the prestigious 2026 Thomas A. Roe Award for Excellence in Leadership at State Policy Network’s (SPN) annual meeting in Orlando, Florida.

Recorded footage of Alt’s inspiring acceptance speech will become available soon. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this promotional video SPN produced to introduce him at the festive event.

The abbreviated list of policy and legal wins below were years in the making, and are not Alt’s only impressive accomplishments. Alt, who founded PROFOUND CLIMBING™, is an elite mountaineer who has climbed the highest peak on each of the seven continents, including Mount Everest.

• Before Alt joined Buckeye, Ohio’s top income tax rate exceeded seven percent, and the state had eleven tax brackets. Today, Ohio’s 2.75 percent flat tax is the second-lowest rate in the country among states that levy an income tax.
• Ohio had one of the most regulated utility markets in the nation. Today, through The Buckeye Institute-championed House Bill 15, Ohio is now a national leader in free-market energy reforms. Within months of its passage, Ohio saw $4 billion in private investment in projects that will produce 2,000 megawatts of energy.
• Although Ohio was one of the first states to adopt school choice, that program had languished. In 2015, Ohio implemented universal school choice after years of tireless advocacy by Buckeye and its allies.
• With more than 300 occupational licenses and upwards of a quarter million restrictions in its Administrative Code, Ohio was one of the most regulated states in the nation. Today, with universal recognition of occupational licenses, Ohio warmly welcomes new and prospective Ohioans to pursue their dreams in the Buckeye State.
• For years, thousands of Ohioans left the state for jobs and opportunities elsewhere. As Ohio has adopted pro-growth policies championed by The Buckeye Institute, that trend has steadily reversed, and last year, Ohio’s population grew by 12,000 and it was ranked the top state for business.

Alt rebuilt The Buckeye Institute’s reputation as a serious and well-respected think tank. He established its Economic Research Center to provide reliable dynamic modeling to show lawmakers exactly how tax proposals affect families, businesses, state revenue, and economic growth. Today, not only do Ohio’s lawmakers turn to Buckeye for state-of-the-art economic modeling, but 16 other states have sought Buckeye’s expertise, saving taxpayers nearly $22 billion. He also established its Legal Center, which is bringing and winning precedent-setting cases and earning national praise for its impactful amicus briefs.

• In The Buckeye Institute v. IRS, Buckeye is challenging a federal requirement that forces charitable nonprofits to provide the government with personally-identifying information about their significant donors.
• In Ream v. U.S. Department of Treasury and McNutt v. U.S. Department of Justice, Buckeye is challenging a 158-year-old federal prohibition on home distilling.
• An independent analysis by Empirical SCOTUS ranked Buckeye second nationally among organizations filing amicus briefs in cases the Court accepted, placing Buckeye alongside institutions with exponentially larger budgets.

Established in 1992 and named after the late businessman and generous philanthropist, State Policy Network’s Thomas A. Roe Award pays tribute to those who have advanced public policy solutions grounded in free-market principles—particularly in the state policy movement—and recognizes leadership, innovation, and accomplishment.

# # #