Father Robert Spitzer was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in May 1952. He has been president of Gonzaga University since 1998, and is a writer, professor, and speaker involved in a variety of community boards and projects.

Education

Father Spitzer went to Punahou High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, graduating in 1970 (National Honor Society). He received his B.B.A. in Public Accounting and Finance from Gonzaga University in 1974 (Magna Cum Laude). He then received his Masters degree in Philosophy from St. Louis University (Magna Cum Laude) in 1978, his Masters of Divinity degree (M.Div.) from the Gregorian University in Rome (Summa Cum Laude) in 1983, his Masters of Theology degree (Th.M.) in scripture from the Weston School in Cambridge (Summa Cum Laude) in 1984, and his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Catholic University of America (Summa Cum Laude) in 1988. His dissertation, under Paul Weiss, is entitled, A Study of Objectively Real Time.

Publications

Since 1999, Fr. Spitzer has published two books and twelve articles. He has also completed and submitted a third book manuscript and two additional article manuscripts. His two recent books are:

The Spirit of Leadership: Optimizing Creativity and Change in Organizations (Provo, Utah: Executive Excellence Publishers, June 2000).

Healing the Culture: A Commonsense Philosophy of Happiness, Freedom, and the Life Issues (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, October 2000).

He has also written two articles in the International Philosophical Quarterly:

"Proofs for the Existence of God Part I: A Metaphysical Argument" (Vol 41:2--June 2001) pp 162-186.

"Proofs for the Existence of God Part II:" (A Cosmological Argument and a Lonerganian Argument) (Vol 41:3--Sept 2001) pp 305-331.

He has also published two articles in the Journal of Ultimate Reality and Meaning:

"Definitions of Real Time and Ultimate Reality" (Vol 23:3--Sept 2000) pp 260-276, for which he received the section editors award for the best article between 1999-2001 "Indications of Creation in Contemporary Astrophysics" (Vol 24:3-Sept 2001) pp. 1-50.

He has published eight other articles in a variety of journals and collections concerned with leadership, metaphysics, ethics, ontology of physics, and higher education. A complete list of recent publications is available by accessing the Publications link.

He has recently completed a new book manuscript which he has submitted for publication: New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Late Twentieth Century Philosophy and Physics. He has also completed and submitted two articles for publication:

"Indications of Supernatural Design in the Universe" submitted to Zygon (Chicago Center for Religion and Science) in March 2001

"The Ethics of Active Euthanasia" Proceedings of the 2001 Conference of the Wethersfield Institute (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2001).

Father Spitzer has also produced three video series:

Ethical Leadership at the Competitive Edge (four hours) distributed by the Gonzaga Institute of Ethics. This video accompanies the book Spirit of Leadership (Ordering information www.robertspitzer.org).

Life Principles (six hours). This video accompanies the book Healing the Culture. The tapes are distributed by Center for Life Principles, Redmond, WA (Ordering information www.lifeprinciples.net).

Purpose in Life: Ethics and Organizational Success (10 hours). Distributed by The Pacific Institute, Seattle, WA (Ordering information: 1-800-426-3660).

In the next five years, Fr. Spitzer plans to continue his literary activity in four areas:

• A volume on spiritual Christology entitled The Unconditional Love of God,
• Revised and abridged versions of Healing the Culture and Spirit of Leadership,
• A volume on the ontology of time entitled Real Time: Horizons and Parameters of Philosophical Reflection on Quantum Cosmology
• A volume on the direction of Catholic Higher Education

He continues to write articles in leadership, ethics, higher education, metaphysics, and the ontology of physics. He gives approximately 130 public speeches per year in the above five topic areas.

Teaching Career

Father Spitzer began his teaching career at St. Louis University as a teaching assistant in 1978. He continued at Seattle University as an instructor of philosophy from 1978 to 1980. He taught as an assistant professor of philosophy at Georgetown University from 1984 to 1990, where he received the Bunn Medal for Most Outstanding Faculty Member in 1989. He then proceeded to Seattle University (1990 -1998) where he was tenured as an associate professor of philosophy in 1996. During that time he held the Frank Shrontz chair of professional ethics (1997 - 1998) and won the award for outstanding faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences in 1997.

Institutes Founded

Fr. Spitzer has founded or co-founded five institutes of higher education and higher learning:

• Colleagues in Jesuit Business Education (located at Gonzaga University) which addresses the specific Jesuit ethos of business education. Founded in 1998.
• The Gonzaga Institute of Ethics (concerned with principle-based ethics in organizations and in graduate and undergraduate curricula). Founded in 1999. This Institute was originally formed as the Seattle Institute of Ethics in 1994 and was subsequently endowed at Gonzaga in 1999.
• The Center for Life Principles (located in Redmond, WA) which is concerned with advancing the philosophy of culture and the life issues. Founded in 1994.
• Philosophical Foundations of Physics (located at Georgetown University) which is concerned with the ontology and metaphysics of contemporary cosmology and quantum physics. Founded in 1988.
• University Faculty for Life (located at Georgetown University) which is concerned with scholarly examination of the life issues. Founded in 1987.

Civic and Community Boards

Father Spitzer is a member of the governing boards of eight institutions: (1) Gonzaga University, (2) The Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce, (3) The Spokane Higher Education Leadership Group, (4) The Association of Washington Business, (5) The Spokane Symphony (6) The Spokane Economic Development Council, (7) The Spokane Task Force on Race Relations, and (8) Washington Campus Compact. He has been a board member of other universities and institutions in the past.

Awards

In addition to his awards for teaching, Father Spitzer held two endowed chairs of ethics: (1) The Frank Shrontz Endowed Chair of Professional Ethics at Seattle University (1997-98), and (2) The John Aram Chair of Business Ethics at Gonzaga University (1998-99). He also received the Journal of Ultimate Reality and Meaning's award for best article during 1999-2001, a John Templeton grant for teaching in religion and science in 1998, the Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants Service award in 1997, as well as a variety of other service and academic awards. He received all of his graduate and undergraduate degrees with honors.