Two Baylor Entities Merge to Encourage Deeper Moral and Theological Reflection

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WACO, Texas (Sept. 4, 2013) -- Baylor University Executive Vice President and Provost Elizabeth Davis, Ph.D., has announced that the Center for Christian Ethics, located at Baylor since 2000 to engage Christians in reflection about significant ethical issues, has merged with the Institute for Faith and Learning (IFL), effective at the beginning of the 2013-14 academic year. The Center's director, Robert Kruschwitz, Ph.D., professor of philosophy, has joined IFL as a senior scholar.
"I am delighted that the important work of the Center for Christian Ethics will continue under the direction of IFL," Elizabeth Davis said. "I am also pleased that Bob Kruschwitz and Darin Davis (IFL's director) realized the synergy that existed between these two important units and how joining them might deepen Baylor's role in encouraging moral and theological reflection for the sake of the church and wider culture."
One of the primary means of pursuing the Center's mission has been publication of its outstanding quarterly Christian Reflection.
Under IFL, production of the journal will continue uninterrupted with Kruschwitz remaining as general editor.
"I look forward to joining the Institute for Faith and Learning as a senior scholar," Kruschwitz said. "This will allow me not only to continue doing the things I love best--such as developing and editing more issues of Christian Reflection and teaching moral philosophy--but also to pursue several exciting projects in IFL. It will be a joy to work more closely in the coming years with my friend Darin Davis and his staff."
"My colleagues and I are honored to welcome Bob Kruschwitz to IFL," said Darin Davis, Ph.D., director of the Institute for Faith and Learning and assistant professor of Christian philosophy and ethics at Baylor's George W. Truett Theological Seminary. "Dr. Kruschwitz's contributions to Baylor and the church have been significant, especially his editorship of Christian Reflection. He will contribute to IFL's existing projects in many ways, but his presence also will spur us to do new work that we hope will foster faithful and rigorous ethical reflection in the Christian tradition."
Founded in 1997, IFL exists to encourage reflection and practice that exemplifies Baylor's mission of aspiring for academic excellence and Christian commitment, and its goal of becoming a university of the first rank committed to its Baptist and Christian identity.
IFL's projects include: direction of the Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, an annual interdisciplinary conference that has gained an international reputation; development programs for Baylor faculty, including Communio, an annual retreat held at the H.E. Butt Foundation's Laity Lodge; and programs for Baylor students, including the Crane Scholars and Conyers Scholars Programs.
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having "high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The university provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 15,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 11 nationally recognized academic divisions. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.