Tony Banout, the inaugural executive director of the University of Chicago Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression, will deliver the 2025 Presidential Lecture.
Tony Banout earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago’s Divinity School, where he was a Martin Marty Center Junior Fellow and Provost Dissertation Fellow. His career has spanned leadership in social sector organizations including healthcare and community organizing, as well as academia. For over a decade, he served as the senior vice president for Interfaith America, guiding a national civic organization in the development of strategies and programs devoted to democratic discourse and civil conversation across deep difference. He has spoken and published widely on free expression, constructive engagement of difference, and the civic relevance of religious diversity. An advocate for ideological diversity and inclusion in academia, Banout serves as a board member of the Heterodox Academy.
