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« Return to School of Theology^Our Faculty & Administration^About Us

William Dembski
Research Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Cultural Engagement

817-923-1921 ext.4435
wdembski@swbts.edu


Education

  • Ph.D. philosophy University of Illinois at Chicago (1996).
  • MDiv. Princeton Theological Seminary (1996).
  • M.A. philosophy University of Illinois at Chicago (1993).
  • Ph.D. mathematics University of Chicago (1988).
  • S.M. mathematics University of Chicago (1985).
  • M.S. statistics University of Illinois at Chicago (1983).
  • B.A. psychology University of Illinois at Chicago (1981).

Fellowships/Awards

  • Texas A&M’s Trotter Prize, shared with Stuart Kauffman, April 2005. (Past recipients: Charlie Townes and Francis Crick (2002), Alan Guth and John Polkinghorne (2003), Paul Davies and Robert Shapiro (2004)).
  • Intelligent Design Network’s Wedge of Truth Award, 2004 for promoting intelligent design (past recipients include Michael Behe).
  • Templeton Foundation Book Prize ($100,000) for writing book on information theory, 2000–2001.
  • Discovery Institute Fellowship for research in intelligent design, 1996–1999.
  • Notre Dame Postdoctoral Fellowship (Department of Philosophy) for philosophy of religion, 1996–1997.
  • University of Illinois at Chicago, Outstanding Dissertation Award in Fine Arts and Humanities for
  • The Design Inference; published subsequently September 1998 with Cambridge University
  • Press Pascal Centre Research Fellowship for studies in science and religion, 1992–1995.
  • Northwestern University Postdoctoral Fellowship (Department of Philosophy) for history and philosophy of science, 1992–1993.
  • National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship for mathematics, 1988–1991.
  • McCormick Fellowship (University of Chicago) for mathematics, 1984–1988.
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship for psychology and mathematics, 1982–1985.
  • Nancy Hirshberg Memorial Prize for best undergraduate research paper in psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, 1981.

Academic Experience

  • Research Professor in Philosophy, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Ft. Worth, Texas, June 2006 present.
  • Carl F. H. Henry Professor of Theology and Science, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky., June 2005–May 2006.
  • Associate Research Professor, Conceptual Foundations of Science, Baylor University, research in intelligent design, 1999–May 2005.
  • Fellow, Discovery Institute, Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture, research in complexity, information, and design, 1996–present.
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Dallas, Department of Philosophy, teaching introduction to philosophy, 1997–1999.
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Notre Dame, Department of Philosophy, teaching philosophy of religion and research, 1996–1997.
  • Independent Scholar, Pascal Centre, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, research in complexity, information, and design, 1993–1996.
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Northwestern University, Department of Philosophy, teaching philosophy of science and research, 1992–1993.
  • Research Associate, Princeton University, Department of Computer Science, research in cryptography & complexity theory, 1990.
  • Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow, University of Chicago, James Franck Institute, research in chaos & probability, 1989.
  • Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow, MIT, Department of Mathematics, research in probability theory, 1988.
  • Lecturer, University of Chicago, Department of Mathematics, teaching undergraduate mathematics, 1987–1988.

Professional Associations

  • Discovery Institute—senior fellow.
  • Wilberforce Forum—senior fellow.
  • International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design —executive director.
  • Progress in Complexity, Information, and Design—general editor.
  • Foundation for Thought and Ethics—academic editor.
  • American Mathematical Society.
  • Evangelical Philosophical Society.
  • American Scientific Affiliation.

Books

  • The Design of Life: Discovering Signs of Intelligence in Biological Systems (biology textbook coauthored with Jonathan Wells). Dallas.: Foundation for Thought and Ethics, forthcoming 2006.
  • The Design Revolution: Answering the Toughest Questions about Intelligent Design. Downer’s Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2004.
  • No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot Be Purchased without Intelligence. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002.
  • Science and Evidence for Design in the Universe, Proceedings of the Wethersfield Institute, vol. 9 (coauthored with Michael J. Behe and Stephen C. Meyer). San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000.
  • Intelligent Design: The Bridge between Science and Theology. Downer’s Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1999. [Award: Christianity Today’s Book of the Year in the category “Christianity and Culture.” Translated into Finnish and Korean. Translation into Spanish in preparation.]
  • The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance through Small Probabilities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. [CUP’s best-selling philosophical monograph.]

Edited Collections

  • Darwin’s Nemesis: Phillip Johnson and the Intelligent Design Movement (Festschrift in honor of Phillip Johnson). Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2006.
  • Debating Design: From Darwin to DNA (co-edited with Michael Ruse). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
  • Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism Unconvincing. Wilmington, Del.: Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2004.
  • Signs of Intelligence: Understanding Intelligent Design (co-edited with James Kushiner). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Brazos Press, 2001. [Translation into Indonesian in preparation.]
  • Unapologetic Apologetics: Meeting the Challenges of Theological Studies (co-edited with Jay Wesley Richards; selected papers from the Apologetics Seminar at Princeton Theological Seminary, 1995–1997). Downer’s Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2001.
  • Mere Creation: Science, Faith, and Intelligent Design (proceedings of a conference on design and origins at Biola University, 14–17 November 1996). Downer’s Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1998.

Books in Preparation

  • Freeing Inquiry from Ideology: A Michael Polanyi Reader, co-edited with Bruce Gordon; an anthology of Michael Polanyi’s writings, book under contract with InterVarsity Press.
  • Being as Communion: The Metaphysics of Information, Templeton Book Prize project, book under contract with Ashgate publishers for series in science and religion.
  • John Warwick Montgomery Festschrift Volume (co-edited with Thomas Schirrmacher).
  • The End of Christianity, book under contract with Broadman & Holman.
  • The Mathematical Foundations of Intelligent Design. Technical research monograph.
  • The Nature of Nature, co-edited with Bruce Gordon, conference retrospective on the Nature of Nature conference at Baylor, 12–15 April 2000, book award through Grace Valley Christian Center, Davis, California.
  • The End of Materialism, co-edited collection with Jeffrey Schwartz and Mario Beauregard.
  • The Patristic Understanding of Creation, co-edited with Brian Frederick, anthology of writings from the Church Fathers on creation and design.

Work in progress

  • Series of technical mathematical articles collected together under the rubric The Mathematical Foundations of Intelligent Design. Topics to include variational information (relevant article presently under submission), uniform probability, displacement/no free lunch theorems, Bayesian methods, Fisherian methods, specification, universal probability bounds, specified complexity, configurational entropy, and conservation of information/fourth law of thermodynamics.

Online

  • “Information as a Measure of Variation.”
  • “Searching Large Spaces: Displacement and the No Free Lunch Paradox.”
  • “A Primer on Probability for Design Inferences.” [available at www.designinference.com]

Forthcoming

  • “In Defense of Intelligent Design,” The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science, edited by Philip Clayton.
  • “Intelligent Design.” In The Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd edition, edited by Lindsay Jones. New York: Macmillan, forthcoming.
  • “Transcendence,” New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics (British InterVarsity), available online at www.designinference.com.
  • “Does the Design Argument Show There Is a God?” In The Apologetics Study Bible, general editor Ted Cabal. Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman & Holman, forthcoming.
  • “Irreducible Complexity Revisited,” Progress in Complexity, Information, and Design.
  • “Reflections on Human Origins,” Progress in Complexity, Information, and Design.
  • “Dealing with the Backlash against Intelligent Design.” In William A. Dembski and Jed Macosko, eds., A Man for This Season: The Phillip Johnson Celebration Volume. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity.

Church Membership: First Baptist Church, Riesel, Texas

A detailed list of publications starting in 1990, and a list of profession activities starting in 1988, are available upon request or at www.designinference.com.



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