Bio Sketch

Aleksandar S. Santrac, DPhil, PhD, is professor of Ethics and Philosophy and chair of the Religion department at Washington Adventist University since 2015. His education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Theological Studies from Belgrade Theological Seminary, Serbia (Griggs University; 1997); a Master of Arts (Religion) with the emphasis in Christian Philosophy and Systematic Theology from the SDA Theological Seminary (1999); a Master of Philosophy from the University of Belgrade, Serbia; a Doctor of Philosophy in French Post-modernist Ontology and Ethics at the University of Belgrade (2003), under the supervision of one of the most renowned Serbian post-Marxist liberal philosophers, Nikola Milosevic (1929–2007); and a PhD in Dogmatic Theology from Greenwich School of Theology, United Kingdom/North-West University, South Africa (2012), the Reformed Theological Schools. The topic of the research, published (2013) by Lambert Academic Publishing, was Sola scriptura: Benedict XVI’s Theology of the Word of God. The dissertation was awarded the Rupert and Betty Judge Award. Santrac’s basic research includes the relationship between Christian Ethics and/or Dogmatics and Contemporary Culture, and most recently Bioethics and Social Ethics.

Santrac’s post-doctoral positions include a 2016–2017 Visiting Researcher in Bioethics at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, DC (working on the project “The Common Morality in Bioethics” with well-known bioethicist Tom L. Beauchamp); a 2014–2015 Yale Divinity School Visiting Research Fellow in Christian Ethics (working on the project Life Worth Living: Reflections on Miroslav Volf’s Ethics of Embrace published by Wipf & Stock in 2016, and participating in Ethics workshops and discussions); a visiting scholar/research visitor of the University of Notre Dame, Indiana (2007; 2010/2011), involving dialogue with Alvin Plantinga, one of the most notable philosophers of religion in the world, and participation in the Notre Dame Ethics and Culture Center; and a post-doctoral fellow in Philosophy of Religion at the L’ Institute Catholique (Catholic University) of Paris, France (working with Dr. Phillipe Capelle, the distinguished French Catholic philosopher and theologian).

Over the years, he has been teaching a variety of different graduate and undergraduate courses in the field of Ethics, Christian Ethics, Social Ethics, Biomedical Ethics, Clinical Pastoral Education, Philosophy of Religion, Postmodernism, History of Philosophy, Dogmatics [Systematic Theology], Theological Anthropology, Contemporary Theology, Roman Catholic Theology, Reformation Theology, New Testament [Paul’s Epistles and the Book of Revelation], Introduction to Ministry, and the Development of SDA Theology.

He has authored seven books in Theology, Ethics, and Philosophy of Religion, around 45 articles or chapters in books and reviews, and presented more than 30 scholarly papers at philosophical and theological conferences. Details about his scholarly work can be found at www.aleksandarsantrac.com.

He is an ordained minister with a passion for evangelistic ministry and preaching and has held several pastoral positions in Serbia, France, and Trinidad, West Indies. He is married to Dragoslava, and they have two daughters, Nastasya Nadia and Emily Grace. Dr. Santrac enjoys his family, charitable work for students and children in poverty, contemporary history, cosmology, Bach’s and Chopin’s music, and basketball.