DAVID Ford, Born 1948
regius professor of divinity, cambridge
David Frank Ford OBE (born 1948) is an Anglican public theologian. He has been the Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge since 1991. His research interests include political theology, ecumenical theology, Christian theologians and theologies, theology and poetry, and the shaping of universities. Ford was born in Dublin and studied at Trinity College Dublin, where he was active in politics, debate and journalism. He earned his bachelor's degree in theology at Cambridge and went on to earn his Master of Sacred Theology degree at Yale Divinity School. He gained his doctorate at Cambridge, writing his dissertation on Karl Barth and biblical narrative. From 1976 to 1991 Ford was a lecturer at the University of Birmingham. Living in the inner city, his theology was shaped by a multi-faith experience. As his housemate was involved in renovating derelict houses, he lived in some of those houses and became a house manager for one of them. In the university's theology department, he became close to theologian Daniel W. Hardy and went on to marry Hardy's daughter Deborah. In 1991 he moved from Birmingham University to Cambridge to become the Regius Professor of Divinity.