The Reverend Dr. Sam Wells has been Dean of Duke University Chapel since 2005. His role is threefold:

• to preach, teach, speak and write in such a way that brings faith to intellect and intellect to faith, for the good of the university and the church
• to lead the staff of Duke Chapel, oversee the Religious Life staff, and be present to all levels of the university in such a way that faith in general and a generous Christian orthodoxy in particular listen and are listened to at the heart of the university
• to offer personal and institutional leadership and example as university and church address issues of wider social and cultural concern

His pastoral experience before coming to Duke included a spell as a community worker in inner-city Liverpool. He served four parishes as a Church of England priest from 1991-2005. Most of this time was spent in the post-industrial North East and in a socially disadvantaged neighborhood in East Anglia. He also served suburban and urban village communities in Cambridge. From 1998-2003 he was closely involved in establishing a community-led development trust, the first such organization in the East of England. During this time he also launched a non-profit organization offering disadvantaged children opportunities to discover wonder and joy through creative play.

In addition to his role at Duke Chapel, Sam is also Research Professor of Christian Ethics at Duke Divinity School. His academic experience includes an M.A. in Modern History from Merton College, Oxford, a B.D. in Systematic Theology from Edinburgh University and a Ph.D. in Christian Ethics from Durham University. He has published six single-author works:

• Transforming Fate into Destiny (Carlisle: Paternoster and Eugene: Cascade) in 1998
• Community-Led Estate Regeneration and the Local Church (Cambridge: Grove) in 2003
• Improvisation: The Drama of Christian Ethics (Grand Rapids: Brazos and London: SPCK) in 2004
• God’s Companions: Reimagining Christian Ethics, (Oxford, UK and Malden, Massachusetts) in 2006
• Power and Passion: Six Characters is Search of Resurrection (The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book 2007) (Grand Rapids: Zondervan) in 2007
• Speaking the Truth: Preaching in a Pluralistic Culture (Nashville: Abingdon) in 2008

He has also issued three jointly-edited volumes:

• Faithfulness and Fortitude (with Mark Thiessen Nation, Edinburgh: T & T Clark) in 2000
• The Blackwell Companion to Christian Ethics (with Stanley Hauerwas, Oxford, UK and Cambridge, Massachusetts) in 2004
• Praying for England: Priestly Presence in Contemporary Culture (edited, with Sarah Coakley, London and New York: Continuum) in 2008

He has also published many articles in academic and more popular journals. Since 2004 he has been an honorary canon theologian in the Diocese of Chichester, UK, a role that involves occasional lectures and involvement in lay and clergy training and formation.

Sam is married to Jo Bailey Wells, who is a former Dean of Clare College, Cambridge and is now Director of the Anglican Episcopal House of Studies at Duke Divinity School. They used to have hobbies, but now they have children – a boy and a girl. Their golden retriever fills most idle moments. Nonetheless Sam loves most sports, especially cricket, rugby union and soccer.