Contributors
Robert M. Baird
Professor and Chair of Philosophy and Master Teacher. A Baylor graduate, Dr. Baird has been on Baylor's faculty since 1968 and Chair of the Department of Philosophy since 1987. He has published extensively in the field of social ethics. Baird served as Chair of the Faculty Senate in 1999-2000.
James Bennighof
Professor of Music Theory, Director of Academic Studies, and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. Dr. Bennighof came to Baylor in 1984 and has been a mainstay in the Division of Academic Studies in the School of Music ever since. A music theory specialist, Bennighof has held a variety of administrative positions in the School of Music.
Marianna A. Busch
Professor and Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Dr. Busch has been at Baylor since 1977 and has served as Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry since 1993. Her research areas are in analytical and inorganic chemistry, with special emphasis on applications of spectroscopy to problems of environmental, agricultural, and pharmaceutical interest.
Gerald B. Cleaver
Assistant Professor of Physics. Dr. Cleaver came to Baylor in 2001 following his Ph.D. studies at California Institute of Technology and three post-doctoral fellowships. His area of expertise is string theory within the larger field of cosmology, the study of the structure and dynamics of the universe.
Marjorie J. Cooper
Professor of Marketing. Dr. Cooper has been a Baylor faculty member since 1984. She is a graduate of Wheaton College and received her Ph.D. from Texas A & M University. Her areas of interest are marketing and consumer behavior, and she is an academic associate of the prestigious Goldratt Institute in New Haven, CT.
University Professor of Philosophy and Humanities. After an extensive and successful career with other universities, Dr. Evans came to Baylor in 2001 as a University Professor in the Department of Philosophy. Evans is an internationally recognized scholar whose main intellectual interest has been the work of the Danish philosopher and theologian, Soren Kierkegaard.
Diana R. Garland
Professor and Chair of Social Work and Director, Center for Family and Community Ministries. Dr. Garland came to Baylor in 1997 from another Baptist institution where she had served as dean of its social work school. An active publisher, grant recipient, and teacher, Garland now leads Baylor's School of Social Work and its family and community ministries program.
Owen Lind
Professor of Biology. After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri, Dr. Lind joined the Baylor faculty in 1966. His areas of research are limnology and microbial ecology, and he was instrumental in establishing Baylor's research program at the Chapala ecology field station near Guadalajara, Mexico.
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Newberry received his Ph.D. from Iowa State University and has been a Baylor faculty member since 1994. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Society for Philosophy and Technology and teaches a course in the Great Texts Program, Great Texts in the Origins of Science.
Roger E. Olson
Professor of Theology. Dr. Olson has been on the faculty of the George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor since 1999. He received his Ph.D. from Rice University. His recent books include The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition and Reform, for which he received a Gold Medallion award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association in 1999, and Who Needs Theology? with Stanley J. Grenz.
Mark Osler
Professor of Law. Professor Osler, who joined the Baylor Law School faculty in 2000, is a graduate of Yale Law School, where he was a Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal and a Coker Fellow. Professor Osler teaches advanced courses in criminal law and procedure, including Sentencing, and advocacy skills in the Practice Court Program.
Mikeal C. Parsons
Professor and Macon Chair in Religion. Dr. Parsons came to Baylor in 1986 and in the intervening years has earned a reputation as an excellent teacher and a top New Testament scholar. His special area of expertise is Luke-Acts studies, in which field he publishes regularly.
M. David Rudd
Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and Director, Psy. D. Program. Dr. Rudd joined the Baylor faculty in 1999 from Texas A & M Medical School and Scott & White Memorial Hospital. In addition to his teaching interests, Dr. Rudd's areas of research include cognitive therapy, psychopathology, and suicide.
Donald D. Schmeltekopf
Provost Emeritus and The Hazel and Harry Chavanne Professor of Christian Ethics in Business. A Baylor graduate, Dr. Schmeltekopf began his career in higher education in 1968. He came to Baylor in 1990, became the chief academic officer in 1991, and served in that role until 2003, when he retired from the position of Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
David Solomon
H. B. and W. P. White Director of the Center for Ethics and Culture, University of Notre Dame and former Visiting Distinguished Professor at Baylor. Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame. Dr. Solomon received his B.A. from Baylor University in 1964 and his Ph. D. from the University of Texas in 1972. He has been a member of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame since 1968, and in 2001 he was named the William P. & Hazel B. White Director of the Center for Ethics and Culture at Notre Dame. His research interests have focused on issues in contemporary moral philosophy with a special interest in medical ethics
Bradley J. B. Toben
Dean, Law School, and The Governor Bill and Vara Faye Daniel Professor of Law. Dean Toben has been at Baylor since 1983 and became Dean of the Law School in 1991. During his tenure as Dean, the Baylor Law School has consistently been ranked as one of the top law schools in the country.
Dianna Vitanza
Associate Professor of English. Dr. Vitanza received her B.A. from Baylor in 1965 and her Ph.D. in English from Northern Illinois University in 1972. She returned to Baylor as a member of the faculty in 1982 and was Chair of the Faculty Senate 1992-1993. She has also served both as Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and as Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. Her academic area of interest is Victorian literature, both prose and poetry.
Charles A. Weaver, III
Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience. Dr. Weaver received his undergraduate education at Baylor and went on to receive his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado. He has been a member of the Baylor faculty since 1989 and served as Chair of the Faculty Senate in 2002-2003. His areas of research are cognitive psychology, memory, and language.
Ralph C. Wood
University Professor of Theology and Literature. Dr. Wood teaches theology in both the Department of Religion and the George W. Truett Theological Seminary and religion and literature in the Departments of English and Religion. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and has been at Baylor since 1998. His is widely published in the areas of religion and literature, particularly on the works of Flannery O'Connor, and of religion and culture.