"I am pleased to welcome Randy to the Ethics and Public Policy Center. His breadth of knowledge on domestic and international issues will serve our program well, particularly as we broaden our focus to engage on not only national security issues, but also on issues of health care, the environment, fiscal matters, and family and social policy," said former Senator Santorum. "During my tenure in the Senate, Randy was a trusted member of my staff who made tremendous contributions to my legislative efforts."

As Program Director for the Program to Protect America's Freedom, Mr. Brandt will help guide the work of the program, and he will also be responsible for the program's marquis events including the annual "Gathering Storm" lecture.

Brandt is joining the Ethics and Public Policy Center after serving in the federal government for 13 years. He is also a mediator and a Senior Fellow for Convergence, a non-profit focused on multi-stakeholder consensus building efforts to find solutions to public policy challenges. He served as a Senior Advisor to the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the U.S. State Department from 2007 to 2009. Brandt also was a Senate leadership staffer serving as Deputy Staff Director and Counsel for the U.S. Senate Republican Conference in 2005 and 2006. From 1999 to 2005, he served as Counsel to Senator Santorum, and worked in the U.S. House of Representatives for Congressmen Phil English and Mark Souder from 1996 to 1999 as a Legislative Assistant and Counsel.

Mr. Brandt has a J.D. from the Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, CA; an M.A. in Religion from the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL; and a B.A. in Political Science from Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL. He is currently an M.A. Candidate in Dispute Resolution at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law. He is married to Gretchen Leaman Brandt, M.D., and has two children, Caleb and Timothy.