Davis Joins Institute as Distinguished Senior Fellow
Byron R. Johnson, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor University and director of the Institute for Global Human Flourishing, has announced the appointment of Darin H. Davis, Ph.D., as distinguished senior fellow in the Institute.
Launched in April 2025, the Institute for Global Human Flourishing positions Baylor University as a global leader for research on faith and human flourishing, as well as the epicenter for global flourishing research/practice alongside research partners at Harvard’s Human Flourishing Program.
This transformational Baylor initiative aligns with University’s motto - Pro Ecclesia (For the Church), Pro Texana (For Texas) and the recently added Pro Mundo (For the World), and the commitments in the Baylor in Deeds strategic plan to cultivate flourishing individuals and communities around the globe, increase student and faculty well-being and elevate Baylor’s research aims to global issues of high impact.
“I have had the good fortune of working with Darin Davis for a number of years, but I am confident this new arrangement will allow us to multiply our efforts in better understanding and building flourishing communities, and especially those communities found within houses of worship,” Johnson said. “Darin’s current and future work intersects beautifully with our current Flourishing & the Church project, which both assesses and promotes flourishing in churches.”
“I am incredibly honored to join the inspiring work led by Dr. Byron Johnson in the new Institute for Global Human Flourishing,” Davis said. “The question of human flourishing, especially as it relates to faith communities, has emerged as a special interest of mine these last several years, especially through the recently completed Soundings Project. I look forward to coming alongside my colleagues as we not only study, but help to cultivate, what it means to live and do well among others.”
Davis, a faculty member in moral philosophy in the Honors Program at Baylor, served as director of Baylor’s Institute for Faith and Learning from 2008-2023, during which time he led the annual Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, faculty development efforts including Communio and Missio and programs for students, including the Crane Scholars Program and the Conyers Scholars Program.
He was vice president for university mission from 2016-2019, leading a University-wide task force on spiritual life and character formation, as well as the “Faith Animating Project,” an effort to encourage Baylor’s pursuit of its mission and identity across campus. He also assisted in faculty recruitment and hiring in the Office of the Provost.
From 2017-2025, he was principal investigator of the Soundings Project, funding through a $1.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.’s “Called to Lives of Meaning and Purpose” initiative. The project worked closely with 12 congregations across Texas as they developed new ministries and projects through an emphasis on vocational reflection.
In addition, Davis has lectured to scholarly audiences, led faculty development seminars and spoken at retreat gatherings across the country. His academic articles have appeared in Christian Scholar’s Review, Journal of Moral Theology, The Southern Journal of Philosophy, International Journal of Christianity and Education and American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly. He also is the editor and co-author of Educating for Wisdom in the 21st Century (2019).
Beyond Baylor, Davis has served on the National Network Board of the Lilly Network for Church-Related Colleges and Universities and as a regional editor of the International Journal of Christianity and Education. He is a former member of the board of trustees of Vanguard College Preparatory School in Waco and pastor emeritus of Blue Ridge Baptist Church in Falls County, Texas, a congregation founded in 1859.
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Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more about Baylor University at www.baylor.edu.