Steven T. Collis

Steven T. Collis holds joint appointments as a Professor in the School of Law, the Bech-Loughlin First Amendment Center, and the School of Civic Leadership (by courtesy). He researches and teaches on religion law, constitutional law, productive discourse, and the First Amendment. He is the founding faculty director of the First Amendment Center and its Law & Religion Clinic. Before joining Texas, he was a Research Fellow in the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School and an equity partner at Holland & Hart LLP. His scholarly work has been cited widely. Professor Collis is also the author of four critically acclaimed books, including Habits of a Peacemaker. The American Library Association has praised him as “a much needed voice of reason and compromise.”

Education 

JD, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
MFA, Virginia Commonwealth University
BA, Brigham Young University 

Publications 

Habits of a Peacemaker: 10 Habits to Change our Potentially Toxic Conversations into Healthy Dialogues (2024)
Praying with the Enemy (2022)
The Immortals: The World War II Story of Five Fearless Heroes, the Sinking of the Dorchester, and an Awe-inspiring Rescue (2021)
Deep Conviction: True Stories of Ordinary Americans Fighting for the Freedom to Live Their Beliefs (2019)

Biography

He is a sought-after speaker to academic and lay audiences across the United States, including foreign diplomats from countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and South America on behalf of the United States State Department. He has been interviewed by and quoted in various news and media outlets, including The Deseret News, Bloomberg, NBC, the Associated Press, The Washington Times, Law360, NPR, The Washington Post, The Salt Lake Tribune, PBS, The Denver Business Journal, Law Week Colorado, CBN News, and numerous podcasts and television shows.

Steven has served as the chair of the Law and Religion Section of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) and of the JRCLS International Religious Freedom Committee.

Earlier in his career, he was an equity partner at Holland & Hart LLP, where he chaired the firm’s nationwide religious institutions and First Amendment practice group and was a member of the firm’s complex civil litigation and employment practice groups. He has appeared before or practiced in multiple federal appellate courts, many state courts, and the United States Supreme Court. He also clerked for Chief Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Steven graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as an editor on The Michigan Law Review and The Michigan Journal of Race and Law. He also holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University, where he served as the associate editor of the literary journal Blackbird. He completed his undergraduate studies, with university honors, at Brigham Young University.