Jay Bruce became interested in Baylor after reading a publication that Dr. C. Stephen Evans, Baylor University Professor of Philosophy and Humanities, wrote. "I wrote him a letter, asking for his advice about Ph.D. programs, and he suggested Baylor," the philosophy doctoral candidate says. "I came to Waco for a visit, and was excited about the people and the challenge of developing a top tier research university that maintains its Christian commitment."

After completing his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College, Jay earned a master's degree at the University of Oxford and worked in London for two years, working first for an energy company and then for a church. "I moved back to the U.S. working in Houston for a year while applying to Ph.D. programs," he says. "There I met the woman who is now my wife, and the mother of our baby girl."

Philosophy and Theology

His area of research includes the relationship between philosophy and theology in the seventeenth century. "The seventeenth century was an exciting, important time, but is relatively understudied compared to the century preceding and following it," Jay says.

Under the direction of Dr. Thomas Hibbs, Dean of the Honors College, he is writing his dissertation on the relationship between divine choice and natural law in the thought of Francis Turretin. "Turretin was an important figure in his time, but he has been largely forgotten in our own day, though I still think he has something to teach us."

On the Road Again

In the fall, Jay will make another move, this time stateside. "I have accepted an assistant professorship in philosophy at John Brown University," he says. "We are looking forward with great enthusiasm to JBU and to life in beautiful northwest Arkansas.

He credits the success of his experience to each faculty, staff and student worker he came in contact with as well as the university at-large. "Marilyn McKinney's student workers did the hard work of addressing the envelopes, organizing my confidential letters of recommendation, and getting my dossier in the mail, freeing me up to draft cover letters, work on my curriculum vitae, and, of course, on my dissertation," Jay says. "I have felt well treated, well funded and well supported throughout my time here."