Richard Flory (Ph.D., University of Chicago) is executive director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California. He is a sociologist whose research focuses on religion and social change, religious and cultural change, the role of faith groups in developing and maintaining civic society, and the religious and spiritual lives of youth and young adults. He has published several books, including most recently, Religion in Los Angeles: Religious Activism, Innovation, and Diversity in the Global City (Routledge, 2021) and Back Pocket God: Religion and Spirituality in the Lives of Emerging Adults (Oxford University Press, 2020).

Professor Flory has been awarded over $11 million for research, community engagement, and congregational development projects while at USC. He is currently principal investigator for “Thriving in Ministry,” a $1.1 million project funded by the John Templeton Foundation; “Thriving Leaders, Thriving Congregations,” a $2 million project funded by the Lilly Endowment in collaboration with the Long Beach Church Collective and the Rosemead School of Psychology; and “Reimagining Preaching,” a $1.25 million project also funded by the Lilly Endowment. Flory is editor of the book series, Bloomsbury Studies in Religion and Civic Culture, published by Bloomsbury Academic Press, which focuses on empirical studies of religion and spirituality in public life, at the nexus of theory and practice.

His work has been supported by grants from the John Templeton Foundation, the Lilly Endowment, the John Randolph and Dora Haynes Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Louisville Institute.

Flory has written for publications such as The Conversation, Religion Dispatches, Patheos and Zócalo Public Square, and has been quoted by a variety of publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the L.A. Times, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Newsweek, Buzzfeed News and NPR.

Areas of Expertise

• Religious and cultural change
• Youth and young adults
• Urban life
• Civic Engagement
• Faith-Based Organizations