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Born
John Polkinghorne was born in England on October 16, 1930 to Dorothy Charlton and George Polkinghorne. -
Royal Army Educational Corps
John joined the Royal Army Educational Corps, where he had the job of teaching and demonstrating a variety of skills to personnel. -
Graduated
John Polkinghorne went to Trinity College in Cambridge where he studied mathematics. He graduated as a senior wrangler in 1952, later returning to earn his PhD in physics in 1955. -
Joined Christian Union
While completing his studies at Cambridge, John joined the Christian Union of UCCF which would later greatly influence the direction of his career. It was in the Christian Union that he met his future wife Ruth Martin -
Moved to California
John studied at the California Institute of Technology after accepting a postdoctoral Harkness Fellowship to attend there. It was there he had the golden opportunity of working with the distinguished physicist Murray Gell-Mann. At the end of his fellowship John accepted his first teaching position at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. -
Returns to Cambridge
John returned to Cambridge to teach. He quickly promoted from reader to professorship, a position he maintained for just over 10 years. -
Elementary Particles & The Discovery of the Quark
For over 20 years Polkinghorne worked on theories about elementary particles and had a pivotal role in the discovery of the quark. -
Priesthood
In 1977 John believed that he had done his best work for science and math and would pursue what his heart was centered around, Christianity and ultimately becoming ordained. He officially became an ordained priest on June 6, 1982. -
Templeton Prize
In 2002, John received the Templeton prize along with its 1 million dollar prize for his lifelong work in proving spirituality and blurring the lines between science and religion. https://youtu.be/1zug4l5t-Hk
