Nathaniel Branden Institute

The Nathaniel Branden Institute (NBI), originally Nathaniel Branden Lectures, was an organization founded by Nathaniel Branden in 1958 to promote Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. The institute was responsible for many Objectivist lectures and presentations across the United States. Many of those associated with NBI worked on the Objectivist magazines, "The Objectivist Newsletter" and "The Objectivist".
There were several subsidiary companies, such as NBI Press (a publishing arm that printed several plays as well as special editions of "Calumet "K"" and Victor Hugo's "The Man Who Laughs" with introductions by Rand); NBI Book Service (which sold Objectivist books and books by non-Objectivists with similar views in a particular area); and NBI Art Reproductions (art by Frank O'Connor, Joan Mitchell Blumenthal, and the portrait of Rand by Ilona Royce Smithkin). NBI also reprinted some of Rand's speeches and interviews, along with articles from "The Objectivist Newsletter" and "The Objectivist," in pamphlet format. There was an attempt to set up an NBI Theater in early 1967. The plan was to produce "The Fountainhead" as a play, based on a script by Barbara Branden, but the project was shut down in 1968.
The institute disbanded after Nathaniel Branden's break with Rand in August 1968. Its closest analogues today are the Ayn Rand Institute and The Atlas Society. From 1996 until his death in 2014, Nathaniel Branden was associated with the latter organization.
Lectures and courses.
NBI presented a variety of lecture series. Many of the presentations were also provided as recordings, which were sold and distributed around the country for those who could not attend a live NBI lecture. The lectures delivered by NBI included the following: