The Rev. Dr. John Charlton Polkinghorne, KBE, FRS is an English theoretical physicist, theologian, writer, and Anglican priest. He was professor of mathematical physics at the University of Cambridge from 1968 to 1979, when he resigned his chair to study for the priesthood. He became an ordained Anglican priest in 1982. He served as the president of Queens' College, Cambridge from 1988 until 1996. Polkinghorne is the author of five books on physics, and 26 on the relationship between science and religion. He was knighted in 1997 and in 2002 received the £1 million Templeton Prize, awarded for exceptional contributions to affirming life’s spiritual dimension.