CMU Lecture Series
Dr. Thomas A. Perry Faith & Science Lecture Series
Speaker: Dr. Mark Y. A. Davies
Title: Science, Religion, and the United Methodist Social Principles
Date: April 21, 2026
Bio: Rev. Dr. Mark Y. A. Davies is the Wimberly Professor of Social and Ecological Ethics and Director of the World House Institute for Social and Ecological Responsibility at Oklahoma City University where he has worked in both teaching and administration for 30 years. He is an ordained elder in the Oklahoma Conference of the United Methodist Church, where he has served as Chair of the Board of Church and Society from 2015 to 2018 and co-chair from 2023 to the present. He serves as the Environmental Ethics Consultant for the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church.
Davies has led and implemented a number of initiatives in coordination with the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church including a Methodist Higher Education Global Ethics Initiative from 2008 to 2012, a United Methodist Higher Education Interfaith Initiative from 2015 to 2020, a Global Methodist Higher Education Social and Ecological Responsibility Initiative from December 2016 to 2025, and he served as Executive Director of the Leadership, Education, and Development (LEAD) Hub in the United States from 2018 to 2025. Davies has published in the areas of Boston personalism, process philosophy and ethics, and ecological ethics.
About the lecture series: Thanks to a generous gift from the Rev. Garth Leigh, wishing to honor the memory of Dr. Thomas Perry, longtime chair of the CMC English Department, this lecture has been endowed at the Central Methodist University. Rev. Leigh sponosored a lecture series as a testament to the impact Perry had on generations of students at Central, encouraging them to think deeply, wrestle with greater questions, and challenge themselves to be the best citizens and scholars. The annual lecture will focus on the role that minister-scientists have played in the development of both religious traditions as well as scientific discoveries.
In addition to spending 20 years as chairman of the Department of English at Central Methodist College, Perry also served as chair of the Division of Literature and Languages and of the honors program. He sponsored Scribblers and Scrawlers, a club for aspiring creative writers, hosting and entertaining them monthly in his home. Perry is the late father of Tad Perry, current member of the board of trustees at CMU. Rev. Leigh served as a United Methodist Pastor for many years, and has worked as a freelance writer since his retirement from ministry in 2000. He currently lives in Kansas City, Mo. with his wife, Cheri.
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