Staff
Marie Marcalus
Director of Research
If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Marie Marcalus serves as the director of research at AFPI, overseeing the full editorial review and publications process for all research products and working alongside the chief research officer in implementing a strategic research agenda that addresses critical national issues.
Before joining AFPI, Marie worked in the Texas Senate, serving as a policy analyst for Texas state Sen. Kevin Sparks and specializing in education and border security policy. She has spent the last two years serving as the director of research and publications at the Texas Public Policy Foundation in Austin, Texas.
Marie earned a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in history from Baylor University and a master’s degree in political philosophy from the University of Dallas. While at Baylor, she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. She lives in Houston, Texas, and is getting married in the spring of 2026.