April 15, 2008 -- Dr. Mark Mann has been named the new director of the Wesleyan Center for 21st Century Studies at Point Loma Nazarene University. He brings a passion for seeing Point Loma express its Wesleyan identity in ways that are meaningful to faculty, staff, students and the broader community.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Eastern Nazarene College, Mann went on to earn both a Master of Divinity and a Ph.D. in religious and theological studies from Boston University. He received the Wesleyan Theological Society Outstanding Dissertation Award in 2005. His dissertation, Perfecting Grace: Holiness, Human Being, and the Sciences, published in 2006 by T&T Clark, is representative of the interdisciplinary nature of both Mann’s theological outlook and the Wesleyan Center’s mission.

Mann comes to PLNU from Colgate University, where he has been serving as both chaplain and professor. An ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene, Mann has experience in editing, student development and staff ministry at the local church level.

“I’m really excited to be coming to Point Loma to work with such a fantastic faculty and student body and to continue the great work of Dr. Maxine Walker, the center’s founder,” Mann said.

The Wesleyan Center for 21st Century Studies seeks to create and foster Wesleyan thinking and to apply it to aspects of life today. The center provides support for researchers, publishes the Susanna e-journal, and hosts periodic conferences. Wesleyan Center researchers explore developments in the natural sciences and the humanities; cultivate strategies to influence the academy, church and contemporary society; and consider implications for Christian living in a post-modern world.