Biography

Iain R. Torrance was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1949. He studied at the University of Edinburgh, where he earned an M.A. in mental philosophy, at St. Andrews University, where he earned a B.D. in New Testament languages and literature, and at Oxford University (Oriel College), where he earned a D.Phil in Syriac patristics. While at St. Andrews he met his wife, Morag, who was studying for her M.A. in French and psychology. Dr. Torrance began his ministry in a parish church in the Shetland Islands 200 miles north of Scotland. There, amid the beauty of sea and sky, he pastored the people of the parish of Northmavine. His pastoral experiences include service as a reservist chaplain to Britain's armed forces from 1982 to 2000. He began his calling to teach as a lecturer at the Queen's College, Birmingham, and the University of Birmingham in England, and he went on to join the faculty of Aberdeen University, where he was professor of patristics and Christian ethics.

In 2001 he became Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Divinity. In the same year, he was appointed a chaplain to Her Majesty the Queen, and this is an office that he retains. His wide-ranging scholarship has focused on early Christian thought, the ethics of war, and bioethics, and he has written, among other books and articles, Christology after Chalcedon, Ethics and the Military Community, and Human Genetics: A Christian Perspective (coedited with William Storrar). He is also coeditor of the Scottish Journal of Theology. He is interested in ecumenics, and is a member of the international dialogue between the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Orthodox Church.

In May 2003, Dr. Torrance was elected moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland; he completed his term in May 2004. As moderator, he traveled throughout the church, including visits to Iraq and to China. He was elected Princeton Theological Seminary's sixth president in April 2004 and took office on July 1, 2004.