Andrew Mark Henry Wins 2026 Marty E. Marty Award

The American Academy of Religion is pleased to announce that Dr. Andrew Mark Henry is the winner of the 2026  Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion. Dr. Henry is the creator and host of the phenomenal youtube channel, Religion for Breakfast,  and founder of the new online learning community, The Religion Department.

Religion for Breakfast, with 1.1 million subscribers and well over 300 videos, provides free access to religious scholarship on a wide variety of topics. As stated on its website:

“[E]veryone should know a little bit more about religion. It touches every aspect of human civilization—our art, politics, history, and culture. It has inspired some of our most ethereal music. It has motivated some of our greatest leaders. And, yes, it has also sparked some of our biggest wars and social injustices. But for something that is so important to human history, how much do we really know about religion? In order to navigate the pluralism and complexity of the 21st-century religious landscape, Religion for Breakfast strives to boost our religious literacy by producing high-quality educational videos on a variety of religious studies topics.”

Established in 2014 while Henry was a doctoral student (PhD Boston University, 2020), Religion for Breakfast garners 1.5 million views each month from all over the world (49% of viewers are based in the United States). It filled a void in the youtube landscape of informational videos, exploring the complexities of studying religion with nuance, depth, and rigor. Many professors assign its videos in their courses.

Dr. Henry collaborates with other scholars as scriptwriters, fact-checkers, and guests—and has helped several to establish their own channels. He also partners with academic institutions, nonprofit and government organizations to further the mission of producing freely available, substantive learning about religion.

The Religion Department expands on this commitment in new ways, with an online public platform to engage directly with religion scholars—creating a university classroom without walls. With an affordable annual membership and pay-as-you-want fee structures, The Religion Department  compensates scholars for their time and expertise, and offers profit-sharing in their mini-courses—supporting colleagues while advancing public understanding in new and meaningful ways.

Since 1996, Martin E. Marty Award has been given to an individual whose work speaks with relevance and eloquence, not just to other scholars, but to the wider community as well. Previous winners have generally followed in the mold of Dr. Marty, who passed away last February at the age of 97 after a prolific career of teaching in university, publishing, and influence as a public intellectual. While we highly value this model for advancing understanding of religion, we recognize that the current moment invites new approaches to public scholarship. The changing nature of the academy also highlights the increasing value of innovative, entrepreneurial models that demonstrate how religious scholarship matters everywhere.

Dr. Henry has become a trusted interpreter of Religious Studies for a broad public, creating bridges between the academy and the public through multiple collaborations, and he has brought academic rigor to new arenas. With gratitude for these substantial and ongoing contributions, the Committee for the Public Understanding of Religion unanimously voted to name Dr. Henry as this year’s Marty Award winner.