This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy sits down with Dr. Pano Kanelos, the Founding President and now Chancellor of the University of Austin in Texas (UATX), to discuss his ambitious move to transform American higher education.
Dr. Kanelos, who previously served as President of St. John's College in Maryland and holds a PhD from the University of Chicago, brings a wealth of experience to this groundbreaking venture. Tired of simply critiquing the current state of academia, Kanelos and a coalition of prominent thinkers—including Barry Weiss, Niall Ferguson, Joe Lonsdale, and Arthur Brooks—decided in early 2021 that the time had come for “risky and significant action.” Namely, the founding of a new university with a brand-new model for education.
Jeremy and Pano's conversation explores how UATX was launched with unwavering dedication to core principles that are increasingly endangered in prominent universities: academic freedom, civil discourse, and open inquiry.
Despite starting with little more than goodwill from supporters, UATX has made remarkable progress. By the time of the podcast recording, the university had attracted over 3,000 donors despite having zero alumni and has had no difficulty attracting professors seeking an alternative to what Kanelos describes as a "depletion in the American system."
This episode offers listeners a fascinating glimpse into not just a new institution, but potentially a new model for higher education in America—one that its founders hope will reinvigorate the principles of free inquiry and meaningful preparation for life beyond academia.
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