Dr. R. Andrew Chesnut holds the Bishop Walter F. Sullivan Chair and is Professor of Religious Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. A Latin America specialist, Professor Chesnut is the author of numerous articles and five books, including his latest Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint, which is the first and only academic study in English of the folk saint of death. Dr. Chesnut is a regular news commentator on religious affairs and writes a blog for Patheos.