Knox Thames serves as the Executive Director of the Center for Global Religious Freedom at Dallas Baptist University. He is also a visiting Research Fellow at Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford. Over his 25-year career, he has worked in various U.S. government roles to promote the rights of religious minorities abroad and combat religious persecution. In his last diplomatic position, Thames served in the Obama and Trump administrations as the Special Advisor for Religious Minorities in the Near East and South / Central Asia at the U.S. Department of State.