Senior Fellows
CRCC's senior fellows are distinguished academics and professionals whose careers and scholarship have had a lasting impact on our understanding of religion. Our current list includes seasoned scholars of religion, a world-renowned photographer, a nationally-recognized religious leader, and a former head of a global faith-based NGO.
Vern Bengtson
Vern Bengtson is AARP/University Professor of Gerontology Emeritus at the University of Southern California. He received his BA from North Park College in philosophy and his MA and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He has published 15 books and…
Jerry Berndt
Jerry Berndt grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His photographs appear in major magazines in Europe and the United States. A recent book, InsightArmenia: Portraits of Survival and Hope, (University of California Press 2003). Berndt lives in Paris, France, with his…
Lisa Marie Bitel
Lisa M. Bitel is professor of history and religion at the University of Southern California. She chairs the CRCC Interdisciplinary Research Group. She studies the history of Christianity, particularly in medieval Europe. She has written four books about religion and/or…
William Dyrness
William Dyrness, professor of theology and culture, joined the Fuller Theological Seminary faculty in 1990 and served as dean of the School of Theology from 1990 to 2000. He teaches courses in theology, culture, and the arts, and was a…
Reuven Firestone
Reuven Firestone is Professor of Medieval Judaism and Islam at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles and senior fellow at the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture. An ordained rabbi (HUC 1982), he received the Ph.D.…
Janet Hoskins
Janet Hoskins is professor of anthropology at the University of Southern California. Her first book The Play of Time: Kodi Perspectives on Calendars, History and Exchange (winner of the 1996 Benda Prize in Southeast Asian Studies) was both an ethnographic…
Timur Kuran
Timur Kuran is Professor of Economics and Political Science, and Gorter Family Professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University. His teaching and research draw on multiple disciplines, including economics, political science, history, and legal studies. He has written extensively on…
Cecil L. Murray
Rev. Dr. Cecil “Chip” Murray joined the faculty of USC. After retiring from his post as pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME), he was appointed as the John R. Tansey Chair of Christian Ethics in the School of…
John B. Orr
John B. Orr is senior research fellow of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture. In 1996, Orr co-founded the center with Donald E. Miller, and was co-director until 1998. He has had a distinguished career at the University of…
Bruce Phillips
Bruce A. Phillips is Professor of Sociology and Jewish Communal Studies in the Louchheim School of Judaic Studies at Hebrew Union College and the University of Southern California and Senior Research Fellow at the USC Center for Religion and Civic…
Adlai Wertman
Adlai Wertman is a professor of clinical management and organization at the USC Marshall School of Business. He is also the founding director of the Society and Business Lab at Marshall — a center focused on using business education and…
Duncan Ryûken Williams
Duncan Ryûken Williams was born in Tokyo, Japan to a Japanese mother and British father. After growing up in Japan and England until age 17, he moved to the U.S. to attend college (Reed College) and graduate school (Harvard University,…
Diane Winston
Diane Winston holds the Knight Chair in Media and Religion at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. A national authority on religion and the media, her expertise includes religion, politics and the news media as…
Tetsunao Yamamori
Dr. Tetsunao Yamamori is president emeritus of Food for the Hungry International. He served FHI for 20 years, the last 17 as its president. He was international director of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, 2004-2006, and remains active today…