This writer, Robert G. "Bob" Newman, PhD, is a native of Florida but has lived most of his life in the state of West Virginia. He was educated in the public schools and graduated from Blountstown High School in Florida in l954. He earned his BA degree from the University of Florida in 1958, his MDiv degree from Columbia Theological Seminary in 1961, and his PhD degree from Drew University in 1965. He pursued postdoctoral studies in non-Western philosophies and religions at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago.

As a child, Bob Newman was introduced to the Christian faith in local Baptist and Methodist churches but ended up as a baptized member of the Presbyterian denomination. He began his teaching career at the faculty of Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina (1964-67), and moved to Charleston, West Virginia, in l967 to join the faculty of Morris Harvey College / University of Charleston, where he served as an A. J. Humphreys professor of religion until his early retirement in 1999 in order to move to Sitka, Alaska, and join the faculty of Sheldon Jackson College (1999-2001).

As a retired member of the faculty, he holds the rank of professor of religion emeritus at the University of Charleston. As a founding member of the West Virginia Humanities Council, Dr. Newman loves to support and promote programs and activities that blend both faith and intellect into lifestyles to serve God and the community. He currently serves on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church in Charleston, West Virginia, and as director of the Lay Academy of Faith and Religion, a program that seeks to encourage academic studies in the ecclesiastical environment.