Team

Justin L. Barrett, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary’s Graduate School of Psychology. He is also Chief Project Developer for Fuller’s Office for Science, Theology, and Religion Initiatives. An experimental psychologist, Barrett taught for five years in Oxford University’s School of Anthropology, and is best known for his research on the scientific study of religion. Barrett is regarded as one of the founders of the field of the cognitive science of religion. He has authored more than 100 chapters and articles concerning cognitive, developmental, and evolutionary approaches to the study of religion. His interdisciplinary interests are evident in that he has scholarly journal publications in anthropology, philosophy, religious studies, psychology, and in numerous interdisciplinary journals. His authored books are Why Would Anyone Believe in God? (2004), Cognitive Science, Religion, and Theology: From Human Minds to Divine Minds (2011), and Born Believers: The Science of Childhood Religion (2012). He has also edited a four-volume collection Psychology of Religion (2010, Routledge) and, with Ryan Hornbeck and Madeleine Kang, edited Religious Cognition in China: Homo Religiosus and the Dragon (2017, Springer). He is the father of two adult children and the husband of visual artist and dance instructor Sherry Barrett.

Charles J. Dougherty, Ph.D., is the president emeritus of Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit in Pittsburgh, PA. He served as president for 15 years there, 2001 to 2016. He led Duquesne through a period of significant development and academic enhancement. Prior to that, he was at Creighton University in Omaha, NE, from 1975 to 2001. At Creighton, Dougherty taught philosophy, chaired the Department, was Director of their Center for Health Policy and Ethics, and served as Academic Vice President. He is the author of two books with Oxford University Press on health policy and ethics. Dougherty is also author or co-author of about 50 scholarly articles. He has an undergraduate degree from St. Bonaventure University in New York and his doctorate from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. At present, Dougherty is writing a book developing a philosophy of gratitude.

Christopher Kaczor (rhymes with razor), Ph.D., is a professor of philosophy at Loyola Marymount University. He graduated from the Honors Program of Boston College and earned a doctorate four years later from the University of Notre Dame. A Fulbright Scholar, Kaczor did postdoctoral work as a Federal Chancellor Fellow at the University of Cologne. He was appointed William E. Simon Visiting Fellow in the James Madison Program at Princeton University, a Corresponding Member of the Pontifical Academy for Life of Vatican City, and a fellow of the Word on Fire Institute. He has written more than 100 scholarly articles and book chapters. An award winning author, his 15 books include The Gospel of Happiness: How Secular Psychology Points to the Wisdom of Christian Practice, The Seven Big Myths about Marriage, A Defense of Dignity, The Seven Big Myths about the Catholic Church, and Thomas Aquinas on Faith, Hope, and Love. Kaczor’s views have been in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, National Review, NPR, BBC, EWTN, ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, MSNBC, TEDx, and The Today Show.

Michael McCullough, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology and the Director of the Evolution and Human Behavior Laboratory at the University of California, San Diego. McCullough is an experimental psychologist who is concerned primarily with the evolutionary and cognitive underpinnings of human sociality. He was one of the first scientists to take an interest in interpersonal forgiveness and to develop tools for studying it experimentally. He has also innovated experimental approaches to studying gratitude, revenge, prosocial behavior, religious cognition, and intertemporal choice. Additionally, McCullough has worked in recent years to help clear up scientific puzzles about self-control and about the social effects of a hormone known as oxytocin. McCullough has authored more than 150 scientific papers, many of which have appeared in the best journals within both psychology (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Experimental Psychology-General, Psychological Bulletin) and general science (Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the Royal Society—Biological Sciences). McCullough’s books and articles have been cited more than 40,000 times, placing him among the most widely cited American psychologists. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and several nonprofit foundations. McCullough has authored or edited seven books. His newest book is The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code, and will be published in May 2020 by Basic Books.

Jason McMartin, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Theology at Rosemead School of Psychology and Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. He works in the interfaces among theological anthropology, psychology, and philosophy. He has published in journals such as The Journal of Psychology and Theology and Religion Compass.

Robert C. Roberts, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Ethics Emeritus at Baylor University. He works on the relation of emotions to the moral and spiritual life and the virtues and vices that involve those emotions. He is the author of Emotions in the Moral Life (Cambridge UP, 2013) and most recently co-editor (with Daniel Telech) of The Moral Psychology of Gratitude (Rowman and Littlefield, 2019). He is currently working on Kierkegaard’s Psychology of Character, to be published by Eerdmans.

Sarah Schnitker, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Psychology and Neuroscience Department at Baylor University in Waco, TX. Schnitker studies virtue and character development in adolescents and emerging adults, with a focus on the role of spirituality/religion and technology in virtue formation. Schnitker has procured more than $3.5 million in funding as a principle investigator on multiple research grants. She is currently overseeing a project on building virtues through technology.

Charlotte vanOyen Witvliet, Ph.D., is the Lavern ’39 and Betty DePree ’41 Van Kley Professor of Psychology at Hope College in Holland, MI. Trained in clinical psychology, she has devoted her research career to investigating the psychophysiology of emotion and virtue. She investigates accountability, gratitude, forgiveness, compassion, gratitude, humility, and hope. Her present work addresses living accountably in relation to other people and to God. Witvliet values conducting programmatic research at the interface of clinical psychology, psychophysiology, positive psychology, religion, and spirituality while mentoring the next generation of researchers and interacting with interdisciplinary teams. She is grateful to the John Templeton Foundation for its support of the Gratitude to God project.

Miroslav Volf is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School and the Founder and Director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. He was educated in his native Croatia, the United States, and Germany, earning doctoral and post-doctoral degrees (with highest honors) from the University of Tübingen, Germany. He has written or edited more than 20 books and over 100 scholarly articles. His most significant books include Exclusion and Embrace (1996), winner of the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, and one of Christianity Today’s 100 most important religious books of the 20th century; Allah: A Christian Response (2011), on whether Muslims and Christians have a common God; A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good (2011); and Flourishing: Why We Need Religion in a Globalized World (2016). His latest book, co-authored with Matthew Croasmun, is For the Life of the World: Theology that Makes a Difference.