The
Faculty of Theology and Religion, together with
Merton College, is delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Paul L. Gavrilyuk as the inaugural Michael Huffington Chair of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. This was made possible through a generous gift from The Honourable Michael Huffington, given in memory of Metropolitan Kallistos (Timothy) Ware (1934–2022), a British Orthodox bishop and theologian, alumnus of Magdalen College, Oxford, and for many years the University’s Spalding Lecturer in Eastern Orthodox Studies. The new statutory professorship reflects a major commitment to strengthening Oxford's teaching, research and public engagement in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, while renewing the University's historic strengths in Orthodox Studies.
Professor Gavrilyuk joins Oxford from the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota, where he serves as the Aquinas Chair in Theology and Philosophy. An internationally respected Orthodox theologian and historian, his research spans the fields of twentieth-century Orthodox theology, systematic theology, historical theology, Greek patristics, philosophy of religion, theological anthropology, political theology, ecumenical relations, and the relationship between Eastern and Western Christian traditions. His publications, translated into thirteen languages, include
The Suffering of the Impassible God: The Dialectics of Patristic Thought (Oxford, 2004),
Georges Florovsky and the Russian Religious Renaissance (Oxford, 2013) and, most recently,
The Oxford Handbook of Deification (Oxford, 2024), which has established the concept of deification as a major locus of ecumenical encounter between the Christian East and West. He is also the founding President of the
International Orthodox Theological Association (IOTA), the world's largest scholarly association within the worldwide communion of Orthodox Churches, and founder of the humanitarian organisation
Rebuild Ukraine.
As the inaugural holder of the Michael Huffington Chair, Professor Gavrilyuk will provide academic leadership in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, renewing and expanding the Faculty's research and teaching in the field, strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration across the University, and enhancing Oxford's contribution to global scholarship, ecumenical dialogue and public understanding of Orthodoxy. He will also provide academic leadership for the forthcoming Michael Huffington Prize in Ecumenical Relations and support the Faculty's wider engagement in ecumenical relations and public theology.
Reflecting on his appointment, Professor Gavrilyuk said: "As the first holder of the Michael Huffington Chair, I am tasked with the development of the field of Orthodox Christian Studies at Oxford. This is an immense honour and a great responsibility. In a time of bitter divisions and bloody wars, which are frequently justified by weaponizing the rhetoric of Christan nationalism, it is vital for peacebuilding to raise a new generation of Christian leaders that could approach the relationship between East and West in a well-informed and self-critical manner. This is why I am also inspired by the opportunity to provide strategic oversight to the newly established Michael Huffington Prize in Ecumenical Relations."
The establishment of the Michael Huffington Chair of Eastern Orthodox Christianity marks a significant milestone for the Faculty of Theology and Religion and Merton College. As Oxford's first statutory professorship dedicated to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the Chair builds on the University's distinguished tradition in Orthodox Studies and establishes a permanent professorship dedicated to advancing research, teaching and academic leadership in the field.
Professor Mark Edwards, Chair of the Faculty Board, said: "The Faculty of Theology and Religion is very grateful to the Honourable Michael Huffington for his generosity, which will restore to Oxford the prominence as a centre of Orthodox Studies that it enjoyed in the days of Nicolas Zernov and Kallistos Ware. We are delighted to have such a distinguished and energetic scholar as Professor Gavrilyuk to be the first holder of this new position."
Michael Huffington said: "It is an honour to have collaborated with the University of Oxford in establishing the Chair of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, having begun my own journey to Orthodoxy more than 30 years ago. Last summer, I had the pleasure of meeting Professor Paul Gavrilyuk at an IOTA conference in Rome, and was delighted to learn that he would become the inaugural Chair. His scholarship, vision and leadership make him the ideal person to advance the study of Eastern Orthodoxy and strengthen relations between the Eastern and Western Churches. I believe it is a match made in heaven."
Professor Gavrilyuk will take up the Michael Huffington Chair of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in September 2026. Based jointly in the Faculty of Theology and Religion and Merton College, the Chair will support the continued development of Orthodox Christian Studies at Oxford.
