The Revd Canon Professor Richard A. Burridge has been Dean of King’s College London since 1993, and was appointed to a personal Chair in Biblical Interpretation in 2008. Before coming to King’s College London he was Lazenby Chaplain at the University of Exeter, where he also taught New Testament and Ethics. He was originally a classicist and schoolmaster before being ordained in 1985.

Richard Burridge has written several books on Jesus and the Gospels (notably What are the Gospels? A Comparison with Graeco-Roman Biography, 1992, new revised edition, 2004; Four Gospels, One Jesus?, 1994, revised edition 2005, SPCK Classics edition 2013; and a commentary on John, 1998, reissued for the Lambeth Conference in 2008) as well as writing on ethics, the purposes of universities and higher education, and Christian responses to contemporary film and fiction (Faith Odyssey, 2001, revised edition 2003). His most recent book, Imitating Jesus: An Inclusive Approach to New Testament Ethics (2007), looks at how New Testament ethics should be interpreted in the light of his argument that the Gospels are essentially biographies of Jesus, using South African apartheid as a case study. In 2009 Imitating Jesus was one of five titles shortlisted for the Michael Ramsey Prize, an initiative of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Richard Burridge’s current work builds on his work on ethics in Imitating Jesus and other thinking over the last fifteen years. He is presently working on a methodology to illustrate approaches to ethical dilemmas and common human experiences, and the provisional title of this new book is Money, Sex, Power, Violence, and the Meaning of Life (publication date to be determined).

Richard Burridge was one of two recipients of the 2013 Ratzinger Prize for Theology, and received the Prize at a presentation by Pope Francis in the Vatican in October 2013. He was also appointed Sarum Canon and Canon Theologian by the Bishop of Salisbury in October 2013.

Richard Burridge held the University of London seat on the Church of England’s General Synod from 1994 to 2015, and chaired their Validation Panel for ordination training and theological education from 1996 to 2004. He has also served on the Church of England’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group since 2008, initially as the Church Commissioners’ representative and then under co-option to provide theological expertise, and was Deputy Chairman of the Group from 2010 to 2015.

Richard Burridge regularly speaks at academic conferences and also leads study days for clergy and lay people both across England and for Dioceses across the Anglican Communion, as well as for other Christian denominations; in recent years he has spoken in the USA, South Africa, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Spain, as well as in the UK. He acted as a writer and Consultant to the Millennium Dome at Greenwich and for the National Gallery, London, and appears regularly on national TV and radio.

For more information and links, please visit http://www.kcl.ac.uk/aboutkings/principal/dean/thedean/index.aspx and http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs/people/staff/academic/burridge/index.aspx.

July 2015