James W. Skillen, PhD
President
Dr. James W. Skillen assumed leadership for the Center for Public Justice in 1981 as executive director, a position he held until he became president in September 2000. In 2008 he announced his intention to retire from the presidency effective October 1, 2009. His successor was announced on May 12, 2009.
Skillen edits the bi-weekly Capital Commentary and the occasional Root & Branch and edited the quarterly Public Justice Report until its final issue at the end of 2007, completing a 30-year run. He has written and edited numerous books and articles, including:
- With or Against the World?: America's Role Among the Nations (Rowman & Littlefield and Center for Public Justice, 2005).
- In Pursuit of Justice: Christian-Democratic Explorations (Rowman & Littlefield and Center for Public Justice, 2004).
- A Covenant to Keep: Meditations on the Biblical Theme of Justice (Grand Rapids: CRC Publications and Center for Public Justice, 2000).
- Recharging the American Experiment: Principled Pluralism for Genuine Civic Community (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994).
- The Scattered Voice: Christians at Odds in the Public Square (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990).
- Co-editor with Rockne M. McCarthy, Political Order and the Plural Structure of Society (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1991), No. 2 in Emory University Studies in Law and Religion, ed. by John Witte, Jr.
- For a bibliography of Skillen's published writings, view Skillen Bibliography.
Skillen received his B.A. from Wheaton College in philosophy and a B.D. from Westminster Theological Seminary. After graduate study in philosophy at the Free University of Amsterdam, he completed his M.A. and Ph.D. from Duke University, both in political science. He is married to Doreen Skillen, the Center's administrator. They have two children, Jeanene and James.
Email: jim@cpjustice.org
Phone: 410.571.6300, ext. 11
