Tony Banout is a cross-sector executive and leading voice on free inquiry, open discourse, and civic pluralism in American higher education. He most recently served as the Founding Executive Director of the University of Chicago Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression — a presidentially commissioned initiative at the world's premier institution on the issue. He is the co-editor of The Chicago Canon on Free Inquiry and Expression (University of Chicago Press, 2024), along with UChicago legal scholar Tom Ginsburg.
Before UChicago, Tony spent over a decade as Senior Vice President at Interfaith America, where he helped to grow the national nonprofit fivefold while building a distinguished track record as a public intellectual on pluralism, religious diversity, and democratic life. He holds a Ph.D. in Ethics from the University of Chicago — with a focus on democratic theory, religious diversity, and free expression.
Tony currently serves as a member of the Board Directors of the Heterodox Academy and as Chief Strategy Officer at The Nantucket Project. He has delivered several keynote lectures and has spoken at venues ranging from the New York Times Center to The Heritage Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. His writing has appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, USA Today, Inside Higher Ed, and the Chicago Tribune.
He is available for keynote presentations, as moderator or a discussant on panels and fireside chats on topics including free expression, institutional neutrality, civic pluralism, and open discourse on campus.