Ernsberger, Neale, Walter all Inducted into the Hall of Liberty
The Hall of Liberty, established in 2012, honors a lifetime or significant achievement that has made a lasting effect on the Libertarian Party and/or libertarian movement. Fourteen Libertarians have been inducted into the Hall of Liberty. The 2022 Hall of Liberty inductees are Don Ernsberger, Geoff Neale, and Dave Walter.
Don Ernsberger
Don Ernsberger was the Manager of the 1989 National Convention 1989 convention committee. He is a prolific author on American civil war history and was one of the three co-founders of the Society for Individual Liberty in 1969.
Geoff Neale
Geoffrey J. “Geoff” Neale is a two-term chair of the Libertarian National Committee, serving from 2002 to 2004 and from 2012 to 2014. He has also served as both national and Texas state treasurer, and multiple other terms on the Libertarian National Committee.
He was Texas state chair from 1998-2002 and has served multiple terms on the Texas party’s State Libertarian Executive Committee.
He has served on presidential campaigns, including Mary Ruwart and Michael Badnarik.
He’s been serving as chairman of the International Alliance of Libertarian Parties since 2015.
The software architect is President of a technology consulting firm and is a naturalized American, originally hailing from England. He has been active with the LNC since the eighties He lives with his wife Nancy Neale and daughter Marina (both Libertarians) in the Austin area.
Dave Walter
Walter of Pennsylvania became National Chair of the Libertarian Party when then-Chair Jim Turney was forced out at the 1988 Libertarian National Committee meeting in Oklahoma City. He was elected to the position in his own right at the national convention in Philadelphia in 1989, which he had a large part in organizing and staging, with his compatriot Donald Ernsberger and others. Dave served until the 1991 national convention in Chicago and did not stand for re-election.
Walter was one of the three co-founders of the Society for Individual Liberty in 1969, one of the earliest libertarian movement organizations, which grew out of the libertarians who split from the Young Americans for Freedom. He eschewed a role in overt party politics until the mid to late 1980s when he and another SIL co-founder, Donald Ernsberger, decided to give the Libertarian Party a try. Dave was elected Vice-Chair of the LP at the Seattle convention in 1987 and Don was elected to the LNC. Dave’s background was in accounting, with broad experience as chief financial officer and other finance roles at large companies. As such, he brought to the positions of Vice-Chair and then Chair of the LP excellent management, financial and people skills.
Past Hall of Liberty Inductees
2012: Ed Clark, John Hospers, Roger MacBride, Tonie Nathan, and David Nolan
2014: Harry Browne and Richard Winger
2016: Ron Paul and Bill Redpath
2018: Ruth Bennett, David Bergland, Ron Crickenberger, Jim Lark, and John Perry
2020: Karl Hess, Gary Johnson
