Scottish Catholic Observer

Professor John Haldane of St Andrews University was in Rome for the XXI General Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life to which he was recently elected. While there, Professor Haldane and his wife Hilda met with Pope Francis in the 16th Century Clementine Hall.

Professor Haldane (above right) is also a member of the Pontifical Academy of Thomas Aquinas that meets annually in the Vatican, and in 2005 he was appointed by Pope Benedict  XVI as a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for Culture to which he was reappointed in 2011.

In future, his journeys to Rome will be somewhat longer since later this year he will be taking up the position of Newton Razor Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Baylor University in Texas. While retaining a position at St Andrews, he expects that the greater part of his time will now be spent in the United States where his appointment has been the subject of much comment.

“John Haldane is rightly famous for the breadth and depth of his philosophical work, and for the power of his exposition of central elements of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition,” Candace Vogler, Stern professor of philosophy at Chicago University said. “He is equally striking and powerful in his commitment as a Christian educator… It informs his exemplary work as a public intellectual, as a voice of clear reason and strong faith in public debates. And it informs his vision for academic work in the Humanities generally. I know of no other scholar whose energies, vision, and talents are better suited than Haldane’s to take up the Newton Rayzor distinguished chair in philosophy at Baylor.”

W David Solomon, professor of philosophy at Notre Dame University, added: “John Haldane has been for some time the most interesting Christian philosopher in the United Kingdom. Now, thanks to Baylor University’s aggressive hiring policies in their bold attempt to build a great Christian philosophy department, he will soon be the most interesting Christian philosopher in the United States. All Christian intellectuals in this country are in Baylor’s debt for this game-changing hire.”

— For further information on the Baylor appointment visit: http://www.baylor.edu/philosophy /news.php?action=story&story=152491