Press Releases

December 7, 2009

Reorganization at Metanexus Institute

Bryn Mawr, PA - Metanexus Institute announced an organizational restructuring today and named Dr. Eric Weislogel and Dr. William Grassie to key management positions in the organization.

At a recent Board meeting, Eric Weislogel was elected President of the Governing Board. Dr. Weislogel joined Metanexus in 2001 as Associate Director in charge of the Local Societies Initiative and went on to serve as Executive Director from October 2006 through October 2008. Since October 2008, Weislogel has held the position of Vice President of Academic Affairs at Metanexus. Weislogel holds a B.A. from West Chester University, a master’s degree in philosophy from Villanova University, and a doctorate in philosophy from Penn State University. Prior to joining Metanexus, Weislogel worked for a division of US Steel specializing in business process assessment. He was assistant professor of philosophy at Indiana University of PA from 1990-1997 and is currently a member of the department of philosophy at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. He also offers courses at Chestnut Hill College and Delaware County Community College. He has published in a variety of academic, professional, and popular journals.

Metanexus also appointed William Grassie as acting Executive Director. Dr. Grassie is the Founder of the Metanexus Institute and served as its Executive Director from incorporation in 1998 until he resigned in October 2006. Grassie received his doctorate in religion from Temple University and his B.A. from Middlebury College. Grassie has taught in a variety of positions at Temple University, Swarthmore College, the University of Pennsylvania, and Pendle Hill in Wallingford, PA. Prior to graduate school, Grassie worked for ten years in international relations and conflict resolution in Washington, D.C; Jerusalem, Israel; Berlin, Germany; and Philadelphia, PA. Grassie is the recipient of a number of academic awards and grants from the American Friends Service Committee, the Roothbert Fellowship, and the John Templeton Foundation. In 2007-2008, Grassie served as a Senior Fulbright Fellow in the Department of Buddhist Studies at the University of Peradeniya in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Grassie has published on a variety of topics both academic and popular.

Eric Weislogel expressed his enthusiasm in taking on his new role. “I am looking forward to working closely again with William Grassie, along with the Governing Board, our distinguished Academic Board, and our extraordinary staff. Along with our members and colleagues around the world, we will continue our efforts, as we say, to seek the whole story of the whole cosmos for the whole person. This means attempting to discern our common story and to offer a transdisciplinary alternative to the fragmentation of our knowledge, our selves, and our world that results from failing to pursue ‘the big picture’ along with our narrow specializations.”

“The goals of the management reorganization,” said William Grassie, “are to focus on new initiatives, domestically and internationally, that put ‘big questions’ into ‘Big History.’ We envision developing curricula that present the history of the universe, the evolution of life, and the rise of human civilizations as an integrated, single semester course. This integrative narrative provides a mnemonic for students and adults alike to understand and remember the details of science and history. This approach will help inspire students about the awesome grandeur of the new sciences and the human adventure. This approach will help students understand the unique environmental, political, economic, and technological challenges of the twenty-first century global civilization. This approach will further help to address questions of meaning and purpose, virtues and values, in ways that are respectful of science, supportive of progressive religion, and conducive to civil societies.”

Metanexus publishes an award-winning online magazine with over 1,000 daily visitors and hosts an annual international conference. Metanexus has worked with scholars at over four hundred universities in over forty-five countries and has sponsored research in collaboration with the John Templeton Foundation on the scientific study of religious and spiritual phenomena.

The Bryn Mawr-based Institute also sponsors public lectures in the Philadelphia area. The next lecture will be at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at 7:30 pm, when Dr. Grassie will discuss “The Economics of Religion and the Religion of Economics.” The lecture is free and open to the public.

For more information, go to http://www.metanexus.net.