Philip Hefner

Philip Hefner is a professor emeritus of systematic theology at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. His research career has focused on the interaction of religion and science, for which he is most well known. He was formerly a student of Jaroslav Pelikan at the University of Chicago.

In 1988, Hefner was instrumental in bringing to fruition the vision of Ralph Wendell Burhoe by helping to create the Chicago Center for Religion and Science, which later was renamed the Zygon Center for Religion and Science. He was the first director of the center and remained in that capacity until 2003, at which point Antje Jackelén succeeded him.

Notable students include Anna Kull, a notable religion and science professor in Estonia, and Mladen Turk, currently a professor at Elmhurst College.

Hefner's most notable publication is "The Human Factor: Evolution, Culture, and Religion", Augsburg Fortress, 1993.

He currently is the editor for the , the leading journal of religion and science in the world. Dr.Hefner, however, is retiring as editor at the end of this year. Recently, Dutch scholar Willem Drees was named as his successor at the journal which will take effect in 2009.