Nancy R. Howell

Who is Nancy R. Howell?

Nancy R. Howell is an American educator. She is Professor of Theology and Philosophy of Religion at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri.

She earned a B.S. at The College of William and Mary, and a Th.M. and M.Div. at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Howell earned a Ph.D. and M.A. at Claremont Graduate School. During her doctoral studies she studied with, and was the teaching assistant for, John B. Cobb. She initially worked as the academic dean of Saint Paul's before realizing that she enjoyed teaching more than administration. However, as a result of her time as Dean she is more aware of administrative concerns related to education. Because of this, in advising students she is exceptionally effective at making their academic progress go smoothly.

She has received four teaching awards dedicated to undergraduate and graduate courses engaging dialogue between science and religion. Howell is Associate Editor of the Encyclopedia of Science and Religion and author of A Feminist Cosmology: Ecology, Solidarity, and Metaphysics. Her research and teaching explore the intersections of ethology, genetics, evolution, ecology, and theology with attention to the social location of the worldviews shaping the fields. Howell is a founding member of the prestigious International Society for Science and Religion. A long-standing supporter of professional societies dedicated to science and religion research, Howell served on the academic board of the Metanexus Institute and is a member of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences and the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science. She is a steering committee member for the Kansas City Religion and Science Dialogue Project and Vice President of the Highlands Institute for American Religious and Philosophical Thought—both projects are recipients of Local Societies Initiative grants for programming in science and religion.