Roy Bowen Ward (1934–2012)

Emeritus Professor of Comparative Religions at Miami University, died on May 20, 2012, at the age of 77 at Woodland Country Manor in Oxford, Ohio. Roy was born on October 10, 1934, in Jacksonville, Florida. He grew up in St. Augustine, Florida, and graduated from Ketterlinus High School in 1952.Roy attended the University of Florida and graduated from Abilene Christian College in Abilene, Texas, in 1956. Roy received his Bachelor of Sacred Theology (S.T.B.) and Doctor of Theology (Th.D., 1967) degrees from Harvard University's Divinity School and was a professor of Religion at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, from 1964 through 2007, and also an Affiliate in History. Roy was also a visiting professor at Rice University, Houston, Texas, in 1970-71. In addition to teaching for over 40 years, Roy authored numerous scholarly papers during his career. While his early work focused on the James of Jerusalem, his later work shifted toward the social milieu of early Christianity. Some of the most notable works from the later period include "Women in Roman Baths," published in The Harvard Theological Review (1992); "The Use of the Bible in the Abortion Debate," published in Saint Louis University Public Law Review (1993); and "Why Unnatural? The Tradition behind Romans 1:26-27," published in The Harvard Theological Review (1997). He was a member and active participant in several professional associations, notably the international Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas. Early in his career, Roy edited Mission Magazine, a progressive Church of Christ publication.