In our May Newsletter, we announced the launch of our search for an Executive Director, funded by a staffing grant from the Murdock Trust for which we remain deeply grateful. From the outset, we stated very ambitious qualifications for this vital role, ranging from experienced nonprofit management with a special focus on volunteers, to successful personal and grants-related fundraising experience, to broad and collegial experience in working across faiths, to knowledge and experience in introducing faith leaders to sophisticated science and technology. Our board received and carefully evaluated over 60 applicants from around the United States and several other countries.
We now are thrilled to introduce to our AI&F expert community and supporters our successful candidate, Greg Cootsona, who exceeded our high expectations. Greg will formally start this role on October 1, but is already beginning to meet our experts, leadership, and partner organizations, initially at the Seattle Summer Experts Dinner on Sept 3.
Greg is currently a lecturer in Comparative Religion and Humanities at California State University, Chico, where he has worked collegially and successfully alongside colleagues in other faith traditions in a secular academic setting. He is a leader and regular participant in the American Academy of Religion unit on Science, Technology, and Religion. Greg co-founded and is Associate Director for Science for the Church, a nonprofit designed to bring science to Christian congregations as a resource for spiritual growth. He is also an ordained Presbyterian Church (USA) pastor and serves as Pastor of Discipleship and Care at Bidwell Presbyterian Church in Chico, California, having previously served at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City.
Greg’s past work, starting with the abundance of volunteers inherent in his church pastoral roles, also evidences his terrific capacity as a collaborator, team builder and colleague. We heard of these strengths over and over from former colleagues and mentors. Perhaps Greg’s flexibility and improvisational skills stem from his life-long love of drumming – especially jazz drumming. He and his wife, Laura, live in Chico, California from where Greg will continue to serve our virtually-organized expert community.
Greg exceeded our desire for strong qualifications as a deep thinker engaged at the intersection of science, technology and faith. After his B.A. at U.C. Berkeley, he received a Master of Divinity at Princeton Theological Seminary. Then he studied philosophy of religion, Christian doctrine, as well as science and religion at the Universities of Tübingen and Heidelberg before being awarded a Ph.D. in systematic and philosophical theology—with an emphasis on theology and science—at Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union.
Greg’s strengths as an entrepreneurally minded nonprofit leader and fundraiser are evident in the grants he has directed or co-directed totaling $4.6 million from six different organizations, two of which are three-year grants from the John Templeton Foundation. One project, STEAM (Science and Theology for Emerging Adult Ministries), offered resources for leaders of emerging adult ministries on how to engage Christian faith with mainstream science. His current work with Science for the Church has been funded by the John Templeton Foundation and the Fetzer Institute.
Greg serves or has previously served on advisory councils for several of our AI&F partner organizations, including BioLogos, the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, and Sinai and Synapses as well as the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion and the Oxford Interfaith Forum. Greg is also a fellow of the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR).
Greg will represent us well as a speaker and writer promoting our experts and partners’ deep engagement in the role of faith leaders in the burgeoning AI ethics debate. Greg has appeared on the Today Show three times and has been interviewed by CNN, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio, the BBC, and the New York Times. He has spoken at college campuses throughout the United States such as Columbia University, Rice University, Duke University, and the University of Wisconsin (Madison), as well as Fuller and Princeton Theological Seminaries and the Graduate Theological Union. He has also spoken for the American Scientific Affiliation, BioLogos, and the C.S. Lewis Foundation, and has written for several periodicals such as The Wall Street Journal, Christianity Today, Theology and Science Journal, and Zygon.
Greg’s own writing is impressive and he will be an effective advocate for the writing and speaking of all our experts and a valuable participant in our programs and those of our partners. Greg writes on science and faith, comparative religion, emerging adults, C. S. Lewis, comparative religion, and Christian life and thought. His most recent book is Science and Religions in America: A New Look (Routledge, 2023), nominated by the International Society for Science and Religion for their annual book prize. He has written Negotiating Science and Religion in America: Past, Present, and Future (Routledge, 2020), nominated for an Iris Award, which highlights outstanding work at the intersection of science, religion, and technology. He has also written Mere Science and Christian Faith: Bridging the Divide with Emerging Adults (InterVarsity, 2018), C. S. Lewis and the Crisis of a Christian, Creation and Last Things: At the Intersection of Theology and Science (Westminster John Knox, 2001, 2014, respectively), and Say Yes to No: Using the Power of No to Create the Best in Life, Work, and Love (Doubleday, 2009). His books have been translated into three languages.
Our Board, Contributing Fellow Team Leads and members, partner representatives and other leadership are all looking forward to working with Greg in the coming months, and we know he will be reaching out vigorously to get acquainted with our entire expert and partner community. We are very grateful and definitely feeling blessed for this successful outcome to our search, to Greg for accepting our offer, and to all who applied for the role. We are actively following up with other highly qualified applicants who can also offer much as fellow volunteers in our expert community.
