You are invited to the Retirement Celebration of David Larson, Richard Rice and James Walters at Vespers on Sabbath, September 26, at 5:00pm. The program will be livestreamed on the Loma Linda University Church website (https://www.lluc.org/). All three professors have had distinguished careers and leave extensive legacies which have significantly impacted Loma Linda University, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and the wider Christian world. Highlighted below are just a few of their accomplishments and aspects of their lives.
Dr. David Larson received his bachelor’s degree from Pacific Union College and went on to complete a Doctor of Ministry (1973) as well as a PhD (1983) at the Claremont School of Theology. In 1974, Dr. Larson joined the LLU Faculty of Religion and continually taught ethics courses to students across all eight schools on campus. His areas of expertise include medical ethics, sexual ethics, philosophical ethics, and theological ethics. In 1983, Dr. Larson was especially gratified to be part of the team that established the Center for Christian Bioethics on the LLU campus. He was also instrumental in gaining approval to begin offering the MA in Bioethics degree at LLU in the early 1990’s. He has served as Director of the Center for Christian Bioethics. He holds memberships in the Adventist Society for Religious Studies, the American Academy of Religion, the American Society for Bioethics and the Humanities, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the Society of Christian Ethics. Dr. Larson recently edited and published a book on Jack W. Provonsha entitled, Making the Whole Person Whole: Papers and Presentations on Religion, Ethics, and Medicine. Dr. Larson is married to Bronwyn Larson.
Dr. Richard Rice earned his Master of Divinity degree from the Andrews University Theological Seminary. He received both his master’s and PhD degrees from the University of Chicago Divinity School. He first joined Loma Linda University to teach religion courses in 1974; then, after spending almost 15 years teaching religion at the undergraduate level at La Sierra University, Dr. Rice re-joined the LLU faculty in 1998. One of his popular courses, God and Human Suffering, has influenced the lives of countless LLU graduates. He has written extensively about his work as a teacher. These books include Reign of God: An Introduction to Christian Theology from a Seventh-day Adventist Perspective; Believing, Behaving, Belonging: Finding New Love for the Church; Ministryhealing: Toward a Theology of Wholeness and Witness; and Suffering and the Search for Meaning: Contemporary Responses to the Problem of Pain. His most recent book, The Future of Open Theism: From Antecedents to Opportunities, was published by IVP Academic. Dr. Rice and his wife Gail have a daughter and a son and five grandchildren.
Dr. James Walters completed a dual major of religion and communications at Southern Adventist University in 1968, a Master of Divinity from Andrews University Theological Seminary in 1970, and a PhD from Claremont Graduate University in 1979. He has taught at LLU since 1980. Among his many books are What’s with Free Will? Ethics and Religion after Neuroscience, edited with Philip Clayton; What is a Person? An Ethical Exploration; Choosing Who’s To Live: Ethics and Aging, editor; Facing Limits: Ethics and Health Care for the Elderly, edited with Gerald R. Winslow; War No More? Options in Nuclear Ethics, editor; Bioethics Today: A New Ethical Vision, editor; and Living is Loving: Relationships Matter Most. Two other major projects are his joining David Larson and Jack Provonsha in founding the Center for Christian Bioethics (1983), and co-founding the publication Adventist Today in 1992. For many years, he served as director of the Humanities Program. Dr. Walters and his wife Priscilla have two daughters and five grandchildren.
For more information, contact 909-558-7478 or religion@llu.edu