The institute was launched by Richard Mellon Scaife and has been funded in large part by the various Scaife foundations; of the $3.8 million in grants to the Institute between 1995 and 2005, more than $3.5 million came from four of those foundations. Bowyer resigned as head of the institute in early 2001 to spend more time with his radio and television activities. He was succeeded by Jake Haulk, PhD, a long-time employee of the institute. Bowyer is the author of "The Bush Boom: How a Misunderestimated President Fixed a Broken Economy", published by Allegiance Press in October 2003, and "The Free Market Capitalist's Survival Guide: How to Invest and Thrive in an Era of Rampant Socialism", published by HarperCollins in February 2011. He is a weekly contributor to Forbes.com, and an occasional contributor to Forbes magazine. He also occasionally contributes to The Wall Street Journal. Bowyer was chairman of the board of Impact Total Return Portfolio, a mutual fund. (also known as "IMPACT Management Investment Trust"). He was an economic advisor to Independence Portfolio Partners and a member of the investment committee of Blue Vase Capital Management. He was also a director of Gundaker/Jordan American Holdings, a financial services company, from May 2001 until late 2002. Bowyer is the founder of Newsmakers Leadership Group, "a research and media company targeted at leaders", and its research and consulting arm, Verity Research & Media. Verity produces the "Pennsylvania Newsmakers" show, and does other research and media work. He is also the chairman of Bowyer Media, a company specializing in radio and television production, print and internet publishing, and economic analysis. Jerry Bowyer is an economist for the Ronald Blue & Co. Investment Policy Committee, where he has helped to develop an approach to economics and investment known as Principled Reasoning. Principled Reasoning seeks to replace predominant academic models for portfolio risk assessment which are based on variability or volatility with models based on adherence with certain fundamental principles of human flourishing. According to a Principled Reasoning approach to risk, when nations violate fundamental principles they add inherent risk to their investment climate requiring higher risk premiums in valuations in order to compensate for the higher risk level. Bowyer graduated from Robert Morris University. He lives in Boston, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Susan. The two have home-schooled their seven children. In the early 1990s, Bowyer was the executive director of the National Reform Association, an organization with close ties to the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America.