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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.

Kritika Agarwal is a second-year M.A. student at the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies. She joined the Institute staff in summer 2007. She graduated in English and Journalism from Angelo State University, San Angelo, TX in 2005. Kritika's research interests include 19th-century British literature, caste and marriage in India, and sexuality and women in religion, especially Islam. She manages the Institute's community programs, including the Mayor's Book Club and the Community Sabbatical Program, as well as the Living Newspaper Project.

A doctoral student in American literatures, Jeremy Dean serves as education program coordinator for Texas Teachers As Scholars as well as the Living Newspaper Project. He is also editor of the Ethnic and Third World Review of Books, an annual journal of postcolonial theory and literature published by the English department at the University of Texas. His dissertation explores the influence of the discipline of Sociology on the publication and pedagogy of early twentieth century multicultural urban literatures.

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.