Donald Drakeman

Much of Don’s research has focused on law, religion, and constitutional interpretation, including books on the original meaning of each of the religion clauses of the First Amendment. His scholarly work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

He taught for nearly two decades in the Politics department at Princeton University, where he was a co-founder of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. He also served as co-chair of the Religion department’s advisory council.

At Cambridge University, Don is a Fellow of the Centre for Health Leadership and Enterprise and Co-Lead of the Biopharmaceutical Research Initiative. As an entrepreneur, he played a role in the development of the cancer treatments that were the basis of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine. He and his Cambridge colleagues have published a widely read book on the role of entrepreneurship in the creation of new medicines and are completing a second book on the innovation /accessibility conundrum in healthcare.

Don graduated from Dartmouth College, has a J.D. from Columbia Law School, and received a Ph.D. in American Religious History from Princeton University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Society of Biology, and holds a Diploma in Wine from the world’s leading wine educator. He has served as a trustee of Drew University, where he chaired the academic affairs committee, and the University of Charleston.

His recent articles in popular media range from “Justice Scalia was Right about Religious Freedom” and “The Wine Key to the Constitution” to “Humanizing Business with the Humanities.”

Don nine books include, most recently:

The Free Exercise Clause and the Rights of Conscience (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2026).

From Breakthrough to Blockbuster: The Business of Biotechnology (Cambridge University Press, 2021).

Why We Need the Humanities: Life Science, Law and the Common Good (Palgrave 2016).

Church, State, and Original Intent (Cambridge University Press, 2010), a Choice Outstanding Academic Title.

View Don's CV here.