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The Ian G. Barbour Chair in Theology and Science

Since CTNS was founded in 1981, the Board of Directors has underwritten an In-Residence Professor of Theology and Science at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley (GTU) on an annual basis.  The Board’s vision is to endow this Professorship as a lasting academic legacy for bridging faith and science at the GTU.

The time now has come to make this vision a reality.

In September 2006 the CTNS Board announced the Ian G. Barbour Chair in Theology and Science and launched a campaign to fully fund it by the end of 2009, thereby endowing the In-Residence Professorship at the GTU. 

The Barbour Chair—The Cornerstone of the CTNS Mission

The Ian G. Barbour Chair will be the cornerstone of the CTNS Mission, ensuring its central educational program into the future as each holder of the Chair will be a member of the GTU Core Doctoral Faculty. In an age when science is often seen to conflict with religion, the Chair will continue to bring the natural sciences into the classrooms of GTU doctoral and seminary students in constructive new ways. It will ensure that future generations of faculty and students may enter into the constructive dialogue between faith and science and be empowered for research, teaching and ministry.

The Chair will also provide leadership for ongoing CTNS research and public service programs such as the annual J. K. Russell Fellowship in Religion and Science, the annual Charles H. Townes Graduate Student Fellowship, and the refereed journal, Theology and Science.

The quality of the research, the teaching and the public conversations of CTNS has taken the issues that are integral to the discourse of science and religion on to the world stage in ways that have never been done before.
--James Donahue, Ph.D., President, The Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California

Ian G. Barbour

Both a physicist and a theologian, Dr. Ian G. Barbour is an unparalleled pioneer in science and religion. His1966 classic, Issues in Science and Religion, launched the recent era of scholarly study in this interdisciplinary field. His prolific writings over the past decades, including the two volume Gifford Lectures which dealt with ethics and technology as well as science and religion, have contributed enormously to the growing international, intercultural, and interreligious dialogue, and they continue to inspire both new and seasoned scholars.

Dr. Barbour is a founding member of the CTNS Board of Directors and continues to serve as a visionary for CTNS’s mission and programs.

Dr. Barbour has also been a pivotal financial supporter of the Center. When honored by the 1999 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, Dr. Barbour donated the bulk of his award to CTNS, rekindling CTNS’s vision to endow a permanent Chair in Theology and Science In-Residence at the GTU.

I am enduringly grateful to CTNS and to the vision and initiative of its founder and director, Robert John Russell. I know of no other center in the world that is making such a significant contribution to the creative dialogue between science and religion.
-- Ian G. Barbour, Professor of Physics, Professor of Religion, and Winifred and Atherton Bean Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology, and Society, Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota

I am especially grateful to CTNS for its decision to honor the seminal work of Russell’s longtime friend and mentor, Ian Barbour, by establishing the Ian G. Barbour Chair in Theology and Science. It marks a crucial step toward securing the legacy built by Barbour and Russell through their scholarship and the far reaching work of CTNS—a legacy which Russell, as its first occupant, will continue to expand in the years ahead. 
--Kirk Wegter-McNelly, Ph.D. 2003, GTU; Assistant Professor of Theology at Boston University

 

The First Holder of the Barbour Chair—Robert John Russell

In September, 2006, the CTNS Board of Directors named Dr. Robert John Russell to be the first holder of the Ian G. Barbour Chair.

Since 1981, Dr. Russell has served as both founding director of CTNS and professor of theology and science in-residence at the GTU. Holding a Ph.D. in physics and an M.Div./M.A. in theology, Dr. Russell embodies the motto of the Ian G. Barbour Chair: “Where religion meets science.” He has mentored dozens of Ph.D. and M.A. GTU students in theology and science, ethics and Christian spirituality. Many of his former students hold tenured faculty positions at universities or seminaries and are teaching courses in faith and science to a new generation while others work in non-profit programs focusing on these important issues. Hundreds of divinity students have found Dr. Russell’s M.Div. courses in theology and science, environmental ethics, and bioethics, vitally important as they prepare for ministry in an age of scientific discovery and technological challenge.

I came to the GTU/CTNS doctoral program as a scientist who had moved from a preoccupation with “how” to the question of “why,” which science couldn’t answer. Bob Russell always knew where I should turn in the theological tradition to find partners asking the same questions. Bob’s powerful argument for the possibility of “creative mutual interaction” between the realms of science and religion has shaped my efforts to understand a society that is increasingly dependent on technology while remaining deeply religious.
--Noreen Herzfeld, Ph.D, 2000, GTU
Professor of Theology and Computer Science, St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota


Experiencing Bob in the classroom I encountered someone brilliant in three fields: theology, science, and philosophy. He convinced me, as a student of theology, of the imperative to take science on board and he made bridging theology and science enjoyable and compelling. It’s been over a decade since I finished my Ph.D. but I still bring the issues that Bob taught me to my teaching ministry.
-- Greg Cootsona, Ph.D., 1996, GTU
Associate Pastor of Adult Discipleship, Bidwell Presbyterian Church, Chico, CA

 

During my years as a GTU/CTNS doctoral student, … [I received]  an invaluable introduction to theology and science. While I came to know Dr. Russell as an expert guide to the field’s complex and controverted terrain, I remain most deeply indebted to him for his inspiring vision of a world in which theologians and scientists work closely together even as they appreciate the integrity of each other’s distinctive approach. My own efforts to rethink various theological issues in light of the contemporary sciences have relied centrally on Russell’s powerful and fecund argument for the possibility of “creative mutual interaction” between the two realms
--Kirk Wegter-McNelly, Ph.D. 2003, GTU
Assistant Professor of Theology at Boston University

Dr. Russell, teaching

Affiliation with the Graduate Theological Union

CTNS is an Affiliate of The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley, California. The GTU is both an ecumenical consortium of nine Christian seminaries where students pursue M. Div. and D. Min. degrees, and a graduate school offering Ph.D., Th.D., and M.A. degrees in areas including theology, ethics, Biblical studies and spirituality. The consortium hosts programs in Judaism, Islam and Buddhism, as well as a variety of Affiliates such as the Center for the Arts, Religion and Education. The proximity of the GTU to the University of California, Berkeley, and the working relationship between them, provides CTNS with additional grounds for fertile interdisciplinary research. As an internationally acclaimed crossroads of interfaith scholarship, the GTU provides the ideal context for the mission and vision of CTNS and the Barbour Chair. (www.gtu.edu.)

When students ask me about studying theology and science, I always advise them to go to the GTU. As a GTU alum it is no exaggeration to say that my whole academic career was changed by the founding of CTNS. With Bob Russell's advice and support, the role of science in both philosophical and theological scholarship has become central to my work. Thanks to CTNS, the GTU has the best resources anywhere for pursuing theology and science.
--Nancey Murphy, Th.D. 1987, GTU; Ph.D.,
Philosophy, UC Berkeley Professor of Christian Philosophy,
Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California

Some recent students:

Nancy Wiens, Bryan Mason, Laurie Gordon

Your Partnership will Make the Difference

The Chair campaign goal is $2.5 million. As of May 2008, the fund is well over 70% of the goal thanks to early gifts and pledges by generous and faithful partners. Now we need your partnership to complete the funding of this Chair by December 2009.

There are many ways to make a charitable gift: write a check, use your credit card or donate on-line at www.ctns.org/chair. To discuss how your stock, wire transfer or planned giving might be incorporated, please contact CTNS at 510-848-8152 or write to CTNS, 2400 Ridge Rd., Berkeley, CA 94709 USA. . CTNS is a 501(c) 3 non-profit corporation.

The Campaign for the Ian G. Barbour Chair wishes to express appreciation to these donors: (updated September 12, 2008) ^

* Member of the CTNS Board of Directors
# Indirect support
^ Pledges or gifts as of September 12, 2008.

For more information or to help support this Campaign, visit www.ctns.org/chair/,
email: campaign@ctns.org, call 510-848-8152 or write to
CTNS Chair Campaign, 2400 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709-1212 USA.

For gifts of support via mail, you may print and use the form linked here. Please make your check payable to CTNS, marked "Chair Campaign".

Thank you!