Felicity Powers Professor of Theological Studies Randy Maddox discusses his plans for leaving SPU and transferring to Duke on Thursday afternoon.

June ends SPU not only for seniors, but also for Dr. Randy Maddox, Paul T. Walls professor of theology.

After seven years at SPU, Maddox and his wife, SPU librarian Aileen Maddox, will be relocating to Durham, N.C., where Maddox has been offered the Wesley Chair at Duke University. As a professor of Christian theology and Wesleyan studies at Duke, Maddox will spend half his time teaching Masters of divinity and Ph.D. students and the other half finishing fifteen volumes of Wesley's "Works."

The opportunity to become part of the Duke faculty came as a result of Dr. Maddox's long and active role in Wesley Studies. Part of his job at SPU as the Paul T. Walls Chair entailed traveling to other Universities to speak on Wesleyan theology. His teachings and writings caught the attention of the Duke University representatives, who contacted Maddox and encouraged him to apply for the endowed chair position that would soon be opening up.

Maddox said that leaving SPU is "partly just a realization that it's time to choose the [position] that I think I have the best gifts and focus for."

"The trouble is that when you're working on so many fronts, it's hard to keep up and to go beyond keeping up to make a contribution," he said.

Maddox said that when he and Aileen came to SPU in 1998, they were not sure how long they would be at SPU.

Now, however, "It will not be easy to leave," he said.

While Maddox's colleagues are excited for his new opportunities, they said they will miss his presence and influence on campus.

Professor Robert Drovdahl, a fellow professor in the School of Theology and a professor of Christian ministries and education, said Maddox is "a terrific person and a terrific scholar."

Dr. Patrick McDonald, assistant professor of philosophy, said Maddox has been "an important force in the facilitation of collegiality and making the faculty be more informed and become more disciplined."

Drovdahl said that Maddox has been a person many have gone to when they needed help on a professional or a personal level.

"He is a very available person," he said.

Drovdahl recalled that during his two years as acting dean of the School of Theology, he would call upon Maddox to do something, and Maddox would take on the tasks and get them done.

"He is such a willing servant," Drovdahl said. "I will miss his willing heart and his willing hand to his work of the School of Theology and to the university."

Maddox said that one of his main goals at SPU was always to keep the tradition of Wesleyan theology alive, not only within the student population, but amongst the faculty as well through theological discussions and by being an example.

"It's so easy, in an educational setting, to be so trained in your area of specialization that there's not many conversations across the boundaries with others," he said in regards to opening up theological discussions amongst the faculty of SPU. "I've tried to model careful scholarship, but put in a way that is accessible to others. I'm a Wesley specialist, but I know that others are usually not."

Maddox also spent a great deal of his time at SPU working on the topic of science and religion. A professor of the Faith and Science course for the University Scholars program, he is also the chair of the Seattle Initiative for Science and Religion Dialogue on campus, and has brought in eight speakers in a science and religion lecture series, including forums about evolution and moral purpose and stem-cell research.

Being able to have speakers address the SPU campus required a lot of Maddox, Drovdahl said, including obtaining grants, scheduling speakers and promoting the events.

Drovdahl described the lectures as "wonderfully enriching opportunities that made the university more than a set of classes and courses."

For three summers, Maddox attended Oxford Templeton Science Seminar, which McDonald describes as "summer school for faculty."

McDonald himself later attended the Seminar, along with Associate Professor of History Rodney Stiling, because Maddox brought the seminar to their attention, encouraged them to apply and worked with them through the application process.

McDonald said that being part of the three-year seminar has taught him a lot and that, without the help of Dr. Maddox, he would have never been able to experience it.

Maddox stated that one of the things he will miss greatly when he leaves SPU will be the conversations with his colleagues in other disciplines, which he said bring great insight into his own studies.

"You find those in large university settings, but you're not in a school that is set up to privilege those," he said. "Our faculty is expected to have those conversations."

The enjoyment, Drovdahl said, is mutual.

"The amount of knowledge and perspective [Maddox] brings to a conversation is amazing," he said.

Although he will miss SPU and undergraduates greatly, Dr. Maddox said he is excited to have the opportunity to work with graduate students.

"I look forward to inheriting students who have been molded and are learning from what they have to do and ask the questions of how things are put together," he said.

Maddox and Aileen will still be connected to the SPU community after they leave, although not professionally. Their son, Jared, will be returning to SPU in the fall as a junior, and Maddox said that they continue to be "supporters of the vision and mission of SPU."

"We affirm the good work that is going on and wish SPU the best as they move forward," he said.