The nation’s academic, political, and media elites often give the impression that nearly everything important in America comes out of savvy thinking and actions from enlightened communities on the East and West Coasts, with little of consequence originating in the “flyover country” in between, although the Trump victory of 2024 showed some important shortcomings of that perspective.
We are often led to believe that America’s leaders are largely developed in coastal enclaves, often largely hatched in elite universities near Boston (led by Harvard and M.I.T.) or the San Francisco Bay region (led by Stanford and University of California-Berkeley). This perception can be effectively attacked on several levels, but here I would argue that Chicago — the de facto capital of flyover country — is a third academic powerhouse city.
While Harvard and M.I.T. are both at the top of the top dozen colleges ranked by U.S….
