Pranab Das, professor of physics, was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College, Atlanta, Ga., during the school's 143rd annual Science and Spiritual Awareness Week. The week's theme was based on a recent book edited by Das, titled "Global Perspectives on Science and Spirituality."
Das delivered the Walter E. Massey Lecture on Science and Spirituality at an April 1 honoree luncheon on the Morehouse campus.
Das has been active in the field of science and spirituality for more than 10 years, leading three multimillion-dollar programs to support scholarship and research worldwide. His central interest has been in fostering serious academic discourse between thinkers from scientific and spiritual backgrounds.
As leader of the Global Perspectives on Science and Spirituality project, Das traveled to a dozen countries to meet with thinkers at major centers of learning and worship. More than 150 applicants sought support under the program and eighteen groups from ten countries were ultimately awarded one-year grants through a peer-review competitive process. In a second phase of that project, the GPSS Major Awards Program, much more substantial support was granted to seven teams in six countries for multi-year research, teaching and public outreach projects.
The impact of the Global Perspectives on Science and Spirituality project is illustrated in the 2009 book of the same title edited by Das in which short essays introduce many of the project’s participants and their rich and diverse approaches.