Today marks an important date in Crandall University history.  The University installed Dr. John G. Stackhouse Jr. as the inaugural Samuel J. Mikolaski Professor of Religious Studies. With over 200 students, faculty, staff and guests present, Dr. James Rusthoven, Vice President of Academic Affairs, inducted Dr. Stackhouse.

Dr. John G. Stackhouse Jr. was born in Canada, and raised in southeastern England and northern Ontario. He was educated at Mount Carmel Bible School in Edmonton, Queen’s University at Kingston (B.A., First Class Honours), the Wheaton College Graduate School in Illinois (M.A., with Highest Honors), and The University of Chicago (Ph.D.).

After teaching briefly at Wheaton, he began his full-time career as an assistant professor of European history at Northwestern College in Iowa, a professor of religion at the University of Manitoba, and most recently the Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology and Culture at Regent College.

Professor Stackhouse is the author of eight books (the ninth will be published next month), the editor of four more, and the author of over 600 articles, book chapters, and reviews in academic publications, major newspapers, and magazines. He has received more than a dozen research grants, and his writings range over history, sociology, philosophy, theology, ethics, and comparative religion.

He has won over a dozen awards from the Canadian Church Press for his journalism, and the University of Manitoba presented him with its Outreach Award for his work in broadcast media. He is a long-time member of the editorial boards of Christianity Today and Books & Culture magazines, and serves as a columnist for Faith Today.

Professor Stackhouse has lectured at Harvard’s Kennedy School, Yale’s Divinity School, and Stanford’s Law School, among many other American universities; in the United Kingdom, China, India, Israel, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia; and in Canadian universities from Acadia to UBC. His commentary on religion and contemporary culture has been sought by major broadcast and print media as diverse as The New York Times, The Atlantic, ABC News, CBC Radio, Time, and Reader’s Digest. And he has preached and taught in a wide range of churches, including Anglican, United, Presbyterian, Reformed, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, Brethren, Pentecostal, Mennonite, Missionary Alliance, Evangelical Free, and independent.

Married for more than thirty years and the father of three sons and a new daughter-in-law, Professor Stackhouse has enjoyed skiing and hiking the Vancouver-area mountains with his family and hitting the road on the motorcycle he inherited from his father. He now looks forward to snowshoeing in Moncton and exploring the beauties of the Maritimes. He is also a jazz musician, and has backed Steve Bell and Carolyn Arends, among other artists.

This Academic Chair is named in honor of Dr. Samuel J. Mikolaski, who served as Crandall’s fourth President (1980-1983). Dr. Mikolaski is best known for his role in leading the effort to update Provincial legislation allowing Crandall to award undergraduate degrees. This legislation, in turn, was subsequently updated several decades later to permit Crandall to award degrees at the undergraduate and graduate level.

We would like to thank the following individuals for sending greetings to Dr. Stackhouse in response to his recent appointment at Crandall.

Daniel Woolf, principal of Queen’s University
David Barnard, president of the University of Manitoba
David Martin, professor emeritus, London School of Economics
Harry Stout, Yale University
Nicholas Wolterstorff, Yale Divinity School
Richard Mouw, president emeritus of Fuller Theological Seminary
Grant Wacker, Duke Divinity School
Katherine Bowler, Duke Divinity School
Alan Jacobs, Baylor University
Stephen Evans, Baylor University
Mark Noll, University of Notre Dame
Luci Shaw, poet
Janet Soskice, professor of theology, Cambridge University
Scot McKnight, professor of New Testament, Northern Seminary
Philip Ryken, president, Wheaton College
Michael Lindsay, president, Gordon College
Daniel Chua, dean of humanities, Hong Kong University
Leonard Sweet, author and professor, Drew University
Steve Bell, 2-time Juno Award-winning musician
Lorna Dueck, TV host
Bruce Clemenger, president, Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
Charles Taylor, professor, McGill University
David Morehouse, The Journey Church
Bayview Baptist Church