Meet Our Team
Core Project Team
Out Core Project Team is an interdisciplinary group of scholars, each of them well-respected in their field, who reviewed grant applications and now serve as a board of advisors for the SMV Project.
Dr. Flanagan is James B. Duke Professor of Philosophy at the Center for Comparative Philosophy at Duke University. He has authored 6 books, co-edited 2 books, and published numerous articles on consciousness, moral psychology, and ethics.
William Fleeson, Ph.D.
Dr. Fleeson is Professor of Psychology at Wake Forest University. He has published widely on personality, character and virtue. He is also the Principle Investigator of The Beacon Project, a new research initiative funded by the Templeton Religion Trust, to study morally exceptional people.
Dr. Fry is Professor of Anthropology and Department Chair at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and also holds an affiliation at Åbo Akademi University in Finland. He has published or edited six books and numerous articles, primarily on war and peace.
Dr. Herdt is Gilbert L. Stark Professor of Christian Ethics and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Yale Divinity School. She has published a book an numerous articles on early-modern and modern moral thought, classical and contemporary virtue ethics and contemporary Protestant social ethics.
Dr. Lapsley is Professor of Psychology and Department Chair at the University of Notre Dame, and Fellow at the Institute for Educational Initiatives. He has published extensively on moral development, character, and the moral dimensions of education.
Dr. Laidlaw is Head of the Division of Social Anthropology, fellow, and lecturer at Kings College, Cambridge. He studies the interface between anthropological and ethical theory, especially as it relates to religion and ritual. He has authored or edited eight books and numerous articles.
Dr. Nusbaum is Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago, Principal Investigator of the Wisdom Research project, and Lead and C0-Lead Investigator on several of its projects. Dr. Nusbaum’s research and published work focus on wisdom, language perception and learning, and music.
Dr. Thompson is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis. His research focuses on the applications of developmental research to public policy concerns, including school readiness and early mental health. He also studies early parent-child relationships and the growth of self-understanding in young children.
Dr. Zagzebski is George Lynn Cross Research Professor and Kingfisher College Chair of the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics at the University of Oklahoma, and President of the American Philosophical Association, Central Division. She is widely published in epistemology, ethics, and philosophy of religion.
Dr. Zampelli is Paul L. Locatelli University Professor of Theatre and Dance at Santa Clara University. He specializes in the work of the early modern Italian dramatist Giovan Battista Andreini, and the 17th-century commedia dell’arte in general. Dr. Zampelli has a special interest in retrieving historical performance pieces for contemporary production, and has directed several productions.
Support Staff
Max Parish, Ph.D.
Max Parish provides full-time administrative support for the SMV Project. He is also Manager of the Institute for the Study of Human Flourishing at the University of Oklahoma. Personal website
Mechelle Gibson
Mechelle Gibson assists the SMV Project by providing financial management and oversight. She has worked at The University of Oklahoma for the past fifteen years in various capacities, including as Director of Operations in the Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost for ten years.
