Biography: Richard J. Mouw

Richard J. Mouw became president of Fuller Theological Seminary in 1993, having previously served as the seminary's provost and senior vice president. A philosopher, scholar and author, Mouw joined the Fuller faculty as a professor of Christian philosophy and ethics in 1985. He served as a professor of philosophy at Calvin College, in Grand Rapids, Mich., for 17 years before moving to Fuller, and he was also a visiting professor at Amsterdam's Free University, in The Netherlands.

A graduate of Houghton College (N.Y.), Mouw studied at Western Theological Seminary and earned a master's degree in philosophy at the University of Alberta. He holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Chicago.

Mouw is the author of 17 books, including The God Who Commands, The Smell of Sawdust, He Shines in All That's Fair, Culture and Common Grace, Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport, Praying at Burger King, and an expanded and revised edition of Uncommon Decency: Christian Civility in an Uncivil World.

In 2007 Princeton Seminary awarded Mouw the Abraham Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Life.  His recently released Reformed Mission in an Age of World Christianity: Ideas for the 21st Century (Calvin Press, 2011) features the plenary address Mouw delivered at a 2010 conference of the same name.

A member of many councils and boards, including the Association of Theological Schools (which he currently serves as president), and the Council on Civil Society, Mouw is active in ecumenical and interfaith activities. He has also served as an editor of The Reformed Journal, is currently active on the board of Books and Culture, and represents the Presbyterian Church (USA) as co-chair of its official Reformed-Catholic Dialogue.

Mouw's wife, Phyllis, is an art historian who is involved in seminary and community programs. Their son, Dirk, daughter-in-law, Christine, and grandsons, Willem and Peter, live in Arkansas.