Ruth Marcus, op-ed columnist for the Washington Post and a member of the newspaper’s editorial board since 2003, will speak on Thursday, July 15, as part of the Summer Institute series at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center in Vineyard Haven.

A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, Ms. Marcus has covered every institution in Washington, from the White House to the Supreme Court to Congress. Nominating her as a finalist in commentary for the Pulitzer Prize, the Pulitzer board cited “her intelligent and incisive commentary on a range of subjects, using a voice that can be serious or playful.”

In her work for the Washington Post, Ms. Marcus focuses on American politics, campaign finance, the federal budget and taxes, and other domestic issues. Her column appears on Wednesdays. She has been with the Post since 1984 and joined the paper’s national staff in 1986.

All programs in the Summer Institute’s speaker series are held at 7:30 p.m., and admission is $15 at the door. The program’s featured speaker on Thursday, July 22, will be Lawrence Altman, M.D., of the New York Times science news staff.