On September 2, Michael W. Hamilton became Executive Director at The Mary Baker Eddy Library. He brings experience uniquely suited to the needs of an institution that, while still young, is firmly established as both a premier research facility and a public resource into the life and works of the woman who discovered Christian Science. Going forward he will chart the next stage of development for the Library, as it continues to focus on its programs and activities within the broad healing mission of The First Church of Christ, Scientist.
Hamilton comes to the Library from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, where he has been a professor and Chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy. He received advanced degrees from Boston University School of Theology and Princeton Theological Seminary. He’s also nearing completion of his PhD from the University of Illinois. Prior to teaching, he spent over 20 years ministering to men and women of all denominations as a chaplain in the United States Navy. This experience will serve him well in strengthening the Library’s healing role within the Church structure, as a public-facing institution with messages that are at once deeply informative and nondenominational.
“I think of the Library as a multifaceted continuing ‘biography’ of Mary Baker Eddy and of the Christian Science movement,” says Hamilton. “This biography is ‘written’ as visitors encounter the Library’s resources and as the Library nurtures public understanding of the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.”
