Harper Jr., Charles I

Charles L. Harper Jr. served as Senior Vice President of the John Templeton Foundation from 1996 to 2015, where he shaped the foundation's strategic vision for advancing dialogue between science and religion. A planetary scientist by training with a doctorate from Harvard University, Harper became a leading advocate for interdisciplinary research exploring fundamental questions about God, purpose, and ultimate reality. His edited volume "Spiritual Information: 100 Perspectives on Science and Religion" (2005) brought together diverse voices from physics, biology, philosophy, and theology to examine how scientific discoveries might inform spiritual understanding. Harper championed the concept of "spiritual information" as a framework for investigating how empirical research could yield insights into transcendent questions. His work at the Templeton Foundation facilitated numerous research programs, conferences, and publications that encouraged constructive engagement between scientific and religious perspectives on questions of divine action, consciousness, and cosmic purpose.