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Evan Carton came to The University of Texas at Austin in 1978 after completing his undergraduate and graduate degrees in English from Columbia and Johns Hopkins. The current holder of the Joan Negley Kelleher Centennial Professorship in Rhetoric and Composition, Carton is the author of two books on 19th century American literature, one on the history of 20th century literary criticism and theory, and a narrative non-fiction work entitled Patriotic Treason: John Brown and the Soul of America (Free Press, 2006). He has served as Founding Director of the Humanities Institute since 2001.

Pauline Strong has taught anthropology, folklore and public culture, and women's and gender studies at The University of Texas at Austin since 1993.  After receiving a bachelor's degree in philosophy at The Colorado College, she completed master's and doctoral degrees in sociocultural anthropology at the University of Chicago.  Her research centers on historical and contemporary representations of Native Americans and American national identity in such contexts as literature, films, museums, sports arenas, and youth organizations. She was a Fellow of the Humanities Institute in 2001 and 2005, and became Associate Director in 2006.

Vivé Griffith is a poet, essayist and teacher with a strong background in working in the community. A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at UT, she's taught poetry to everyone from kindergarteners to retirees. She is the author of the poetry collection Weeks in This Country, and her poems, stories and essays about expanding the audience for poetry have been widely published. Vivé came to Free Minds from the UT's Office of Public Affairs, where she wrote feature stories for the university home page. She directs the Free Minds Project.

Gretchen Voter Abbott holds a B.A. in Spanish literature from Smith College and is currently a Master's candidate in Women's and Gender Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. She has close to eight years of experience in nonprofit management and educational administration, including a stint as the Assistant Director of Education at the Boston Center for Adult Education, where she managed the Center for Nonprofit Management and programmed five successful nonprofit management conferences. Abbott is the Program Coordinator for the Community Sabbatical Research Leave and Research Associates programs. She also assists with the Mayor's Book Club.

Tessa Farmer is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Anthropology at The University of Texas at Austin. Tessa received her B.A. from the University of Rochester in anthropology, where she also minored in theater. She completed an M.A. Thesis on the Amazigh nationalist movements in Morocco at UT Austin, and she has been conducting research on the interaction of the environment and social relationships in the Western Desert of Egypt since 2000. Tessa is the program coordinator for the Living Newspaper program.

Paul Michels is a Master’s Candidate in the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies. His academic interests include gender and political representation as well as the implications of the shifting terrain of liberal and neo-liberal modes of governmentality and their implications for gender studies. Paul also serves in the capacity of Administrative Director for the University of Texas Graduate Student Assembly, board member for the University Apartments Tenant Advisory Board, and Board Trustee for the Katherine Anne Porter School in Wimberley, Texas, where he served as Principal prior to continuing his graduate work here at UT.

Paula Kothmann, CFRE, is a development professional, arts writer, science editor, and current art history student at UT's College of Fine Arts. She earned her Certified Fund Raising Executive credential in 2001. She completed her M.A. in German at UT in 1997 after studying at the Leopold-Franzens Universität (University of Innsbruck) for several years, majoring in science writing and medical translation. She received a B.A. from Trinity University. Paula has over ten years' work experience at UT including several years as Publications Editor at the Cockrell School of Engineering. She worked in development for both that school and at the Vice President for Development before joining the HI staff in March 2008.