Robert Royal is the author of The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century and Dante Alighieri. He is editor in chief of The Catholic Thing, an online publication he founded with Michael Novak; the president of the Faith and Reason Institute, based in Washington, DC; the graduate dean of Catholic Distance University; and a member of the board of directors of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. He has taught at Brown University, Rhode Island College, and the Catholic University of America. He lives in Washington, DC.