Heterodox Academy’s origin story could be summarized as “three guys and a blog.” Three scholars from three different disciplines authored academic articles in 2015 reflecting on the costs of orthodoxy in their disciplines. Chris Martin, Nick Rosenkranz, and Jonathan Haidt then joined forces to create a blog, which quickly attracted more writers and calls for a membership structure.

Soon, collaborations took root, creating new tools and research. Before long, a small staff was needed to help steward projects and seize opportunities. Efforts and relationships grew organically. At that point, Jon and others realized that a more formal organization would be needed in order to harness the potential of the open inquiry movement. Jon recruited me away from my tenured, Full Professorship at Harvey Mudd College to become HxA’s first Executive Director.

For Heterodox Academy, the 2019 fiscal year (September 1, 2018 - August 31, 2019) was all 
about putting the “organs” in the organization – establishing critical strategic and operational foundations upon which to build programmatic and collaborative success. For example, this year we obtained our IRS designation, established our Board of Directors, identified metrics by which we track progress, built a membership database, and brought needed focus to our work through strategic planning.

What was once an energized vision has transformed into a passionately non-partisan and non-profit organization, strategically built to achieve an urgent need: improving the quality of research and education in universities by increasing open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement.

Team HxA is delighted to share with you key accomplishments of this year in our first-ever Annual Report. The take-home message is clear: HxA effectively and efficiently leverages relationships with others and the support of philanthropic partners to create positive change on college campuses and in academic disciplines.

With warmest regards,

Debra Mashek

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR