Westmont to Install Schloss in Science Chair
Westmont will inaugurate the T.B. Walker Chair in the Natural and Behavioral Sciences and install Jeff Schloss, distinguished professor of biology at Westmont, as the first recipient Friday, Feb. 26. The T.B. Walker Foundation, an anonymous donor and other friends committed $1.5 million to Westmont to create the endowed chair, the first to honor the work of an outstanding professor in biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering-physics, mathematics or psychology. All events are free and open to the public.
The inauguration and installation ceremony, which begins at 10:30 a.m. in Murchison Gym, features presentations by Richard Pointer, acting provost; Vince Nelson, chair of the Westmont College Board of Trustees; Michael J. Murray, Shadek professor in the humanities and philosophy at Franklin and Marshall College; and Westmont President Gayle D. Beebe.
Schloss will deliver a dedicatory lecture, “Life Sciences and the Living God: Biology, Faith and the Purposes of Life,” at 3:30 p.m. in Porter Theatre. A panel discussion, “Biology and Faith in the 21st Century,” includes Murray, who earned his doctorate at the University of Notre Dame, and William Hurlbut, consulting professor in the Program in Human Biology and in the Neuroscience Institute at Stanford University, at 4:45 p.m. in Porter Theatre.
Internationally known for his scholarship on interactions between evolutionary theory and religious faith, Schloss has co-edited several major books on this topic: “The Believing Primate: Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Perspectives on the Origin of Religion” (Oxford University Press); “Evolution and Ethics: Human Morality in Biological and Religious Perspective” (Eerdmans); and “Altruism and Altruistic Love: Science, Philosophy, and Religion in Dialogue,” (Oxford University Press), which all won Templeton Science-Religion Books of Distinction Awards.
Schloss speaks frequently throughout the country and around the world to both scholarly and popular audiences and serves on more than a dozen editorial and advisory boards related to issues in science and religion.
“A brilliant scientist who is also a committed Christian, Jeff models for our students the rigorous intellectual exploration we encourage them to pursue,” Beebe says. “Despite his active scholarly career, Jeff is a popular and engaging teacher who makes a point of spending time with students.”
“I am, and I encourage students to be, decidedly ambivalent in refusing to choose between teaching and research, experimental fieldwork and integrative scholarship, and the integrity of science and the viability of Christian faith,” Schloss says.
He joined the biology faculty at Westmont in 1981. A graduate of Wheaton College, he earned a doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology from Washington University.
The T.B. Walker chair includes a reduced teaching load (one less class each year) so the professor can focus on research. It’s the third chair recently established at Westmont. Last year, the college inaugurated two other endowed positions, the R. Anthony Askew Chair in Art and the Fletcher Jones Foundation Chair in the Social Sciences.
“Not only does the new chair bring prestige to its holder and the institution, but the research opportunities will enhance students’ education as well,” Pointer says