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John Charlton Polkinghorne Birth
John Charlton Polkinghorne was born on October 16th, 1930 in Weston-Super-Mare, near Somerset, England. He was the third born out of the four children his parents had. -
College
John Polkinghorne attended Trinity College, Cambridge. He graduated in 1952 at "Senior Wrangler", which is the top mathematics undergraduate at Cambridge University. It can also be described as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain". -
College Continued
John Polkinghorne furthered his education by earning his PhD in Physics in 1955. -
Postdoctoral work
John Polkinghorne worked for the Harkness Fellowship with the California Institute of Technology. Later being offered a position as a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh which he accepted and started working in 1956. -
Marriage
John Polkinghorne got married to Ruth Martin, who was also apart of the same Christian Union of UCCF. Ruth was a mathematics student at the same university as well. -
Postdoctoral Work Continued
John returned to teach at Cambridge University in 1958. He was later promoted in 1965bto "reader" , which is a term used for a senior academic with distinguished international reputation. In 1968, John Polkinghorne started working as a professor in mathematical physics for the next 11 years. -
Main Pieces of Work
John Polkinghorne studied and worked for 25 years. During these 25 years, he on theories about elementary particles, helped discover the quark, and researched the analytic and high-energy properties of Feynman Integrals and the foundations of the Scattering Matrix theory. -
Priesthood
John decided to train for priesthood. He resigned from his chair at Cambridge University in 1979 to pursue his Christian faith and to study at Westcott House, Cambridge. -
Knight Commander
John Polkinghorne was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. -
Ordained Priest
John Polkinghorne became an ordained priest on June 6, 1982. He then worked as a curate in south Bristol for the following 5 years. He then worked as vicar in Blean, Kent. -
Priesthood Continued
John returned to Cambridge in 1986 as dean of chapel at Trinity Hall. Later that same year, he became the president of Queens' College. He served this role for 10 years until his retirement in 1996. -
Liverpool Cathedral
Polkinghorne served as canon theologian of Liverpool Cathedral from 1994 till 2005. -
Honorary Doctrine
John Polkinghorne received an Honorary Doctrine presented by Hong Kong Baptist University in relation to their 50 year celebration. -
Present Day
He is a member of staff of the Psychology and Religion Research Group at Cambridge University. -
References
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Particle Physics.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 26 Apr. 2013, www.britannica.com/science/particle-physics. Turner, Darrell J. John Polkinghorne. 12 Oct. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Polkinghorne