St. Davids, PA: Eastern University is pleased to welcome Dr. Brian Williams as the new Dean of Templeton Honors College. Dr. Williams officially assumed the role on July 1, 2017 and will also serve as Assistant Professor of Ethics and Liberal Studies.
“This position allows me to draw together so many of my life’s passions: theology, moral and spiritual formation, the classics, and education. And it allows me to become part of a small community of like-minded friends gathered around common objects of love for sake of serving the community and the Kingdom,” Dr. Williams said of the appointment. “I’m deeply grateful that in God’s providence, he led me here and opened a space for me to join the family of Eastern University and the Templeton Honors College.”
Before coming to Eastern, Dr. Williams was Lecturer in Theology and Christian Ethics at the University of Oxford and Director of “Oxford Conversations,” a collection of curated video interviews with leading Christian academics and scholars at Oxford. He holds an MPhil and DPhil in Christian Ethics from the University of Oxford (UK), where he was a Clarendon Scholar; an MA and ThM in Systematic and Historical Theology from Regent College (Vancouver, Canada); and a BA in Biblical Studies from Ozark Christian College (Joplin, MO).
His current research examines the tradition of Didascalic Christian Humanism, focusing on the works of Hugh of St. Victor, Philip Melanchthon, and John Henry Newman. Dr. Williams’ broader academic interests include virtue ethics; Christian and Muslim political thought; Karl Barth’s theology and politics; political forgiveness; Dante Alighieri’s Commedia; and the intersection of Moral Theology and Social Anthropology. Dr. Williams has also taught Theology, Philosophy, and Literature at Cair Paravel Latin School (Topeka, KS); was Theologian-in-Residence at First Presbyterian Church PCUSA (Topeka, KS); led Quo Vadis Travel Seminars to destinations throughout Europe and the United States; was the Distance Education Instructor in Theology for Regent College (Vancouver); and has experience in several fields of business.
In his new role as Dean, Dr. Williams plans to build on the College’s already strong commitment to its values of truth, learning, wisdom, virtue, stewardship and service. By the summer of 2018, he hopes to develop a new MA in Classical Teaching program that will help secondary teachers learn both the methods and the materials of classical education. In an effort to broaden the influence and impact of the College, he also hopes to strengthen the Summer Scholars Program, grow the freshman class, add degree options and professors, expand facilities, and provide more opportunities for students to engage with the Arts and Aesthetics. The goal, he says, would be to “nurture even more students in the True, the Good, and the Beautiful, who could then go on to love and serve their neighbors in multi-dimensional ways.”
