Robert Royal is a Catholic author and the president of the "Faith and Reason Institute", based in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

Royal received his BA and MA from Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

 and his PhD from The Catholic University of America

The Catholic University of America

The Catholic University of America is a private university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops...

. He has taught at Brown University, Rhode Island College

Rhode Island College

Rhode Island College is a nationally ranked, coeducational, state-supported comprehensive college founded in 1854, located in Providence, Rhode Island, USA...

, and The Catholic University of America. From 1980 to 1982 he was as editor-in-chief of Prospect magazine in Princeton, New Jersey

Princeton, New Jersey

Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...

. From 1986 to 1999 he served as vice president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center

Ethics and Public Policy Center

The Ethics and Public Policy Center is a Washington, D.C.-based conservative advocacy group. Formed in 1976 by Ernest W. Lefever, who was its president until 1989, the group describes itself as "dedicated to applying the Judeo-Christian moral tradition to critical issues of public policy."Since...

, along with president George Weigel

George Weigel

George Weigel is an American author, and political and social activist. He currently serves as a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Weigel was the Founding President of the James Madison Foundation...

 from 1989 to 1996.

He is currently editor-in-chief of The Catholic Thing, an online publication he launched with Michael Novak

Michael Novak

Michael Novak is an American Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat. The author of more than twenty-five books on the philosophy and theology of culture, Novak is most widely known for his book The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism...

. He also serves as the Graduate Dean of Catholic Distance University

Catholic Distance University

Catholic Distance University , located in Hamilton, Virginia, is a private undergraduate and graduate institution that is "in the vanguard of Catholic distance learning." Established in 1983 in the Arlington diocese by Bishop Welsh, CDU offers an accredited bachelor degree in theology completion...

 and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute

Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute

The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute is "a non-partisan, non-profit research institute dedicated to reestablishing a proper understanding of international law, protecting national sovereignty and the dignity of the human person." Its leaders have participated in every major UN social...

.

Royal is generally conservative and a critic of secularism.