Swami Sharanananda Resident Acharya, Chinmaya Mission Chicago Swami Sharanananda hails from Puri in Orissa, one of India s eastern states. Inspired by Pujya Swami Chinmayanandji, in 1986 he joined the two-year brahmachari Vedanta training course in Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai. There he was trained by Pujya Guruji Tejomayanandaji, the head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide, and in 1988 was given brahmachari diksha and became Brahmachari Sharana Chaitanya. He has served Chinmaya Mission centers in Anugul, Rourkela and Calcutta. In 1993, he became resident Acharya at Chinmaya Mission Chicago. On July 9, 1995, he was initiated into sannyasa by Swami Tejomayanandaji and became Swami Sharanananda. Because of his selfless service to Chinmaya Mission Chicago, the center has not only thrived, but has expanded to serve the spiritual needs of many neighboring communities. Swami Sharanananda periodically travels to the neighboring states of Iowa, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan to conduct Chinmaya Mission camps for children and adults. He leads discourses on the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads and yoga.
Aasim I. Padela, MD, MSc Director of Initiative on Islam and Medicine, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Chicago Dr. Aasim Padela is an emergency medicine physician, professor and health services researcher at the University of Chicago. His scholarship focuses on how religion-related factors impact health behaviors among American Muslims. A fellow at Institute for Social Policy & Understanding, a nonpartisan think-tank, and in conjunction with several Muslim community organizations, his scholarship is used to create policy recommendations. Dr. Padela was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Michigan (2008-2011), where he led a program studying American Muslim health behaviors and health challenges. In 2010, he was a visiting fellow at the Centre of Islamic Studies at Oxford University, where he worked on projects relating to Islamic moral and ethical teachings. He completed undergraduate degrees in biomedical engineering and classical Arabic and literature at the University of Rochester in New York, earned a medical degree from Weill Cornell Medical College and obtained emergency medicine training at the University of Rochester. Dr. Padela and his research have appeared in multiple media outlets including CNN, Life Matters Media, The Huffington Post, The New York Times and USA Today.
Rev. Myron McCoy, DMin Senior Pastor, First United Methodist Church, The Chicago Temple Rev. Myron McCoy began his appointment at the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple on July 1, 2014. He previously served as president of Saint Paul Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, for more than 11 years. Rev. McCoy is no stranger to Chicago, having served as District Superintendent of the Chicago Southern District of the Northern Illinois Conference. His prior Chicago led church appointments included one as Senior Pastor of Saint Mark UMC (1992-2003). He also previously served at Saint Mark UMC (1979-1982) as student intern and as Associate Pastor (1982-1985). Additionally, he was Pastor of South Shore UMC (1985-1988). He currently serves as a board member of the United Methodist Senate, Ohio Wesleyan University and Baker University. Previous leadership roles have included board member of the Association of Theological Schools, Chair of the General Board of the United Methodist Publishing House, member of the Garrett- Evangelical Theological Seminary Board of Trustees, Chair of the Northern Illinois Conference Board of Ordained Ministry and General/Jurisdictional delegate from his Annual Conference. He received his Bachelor s degree in political science and public administration from Ohio Wesleyan University; master of divinity degree from Garrett- Evangelical Theological Seminary and doctor of ministry degree from United Theological Seminary. Also, he was awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Baker University.
John J. Hardt, PhD Associate Professor of Bioethics, Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine John Hardt serves as assistant professor in the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics at Loyola University Chicago, vice president of Mission Integration at Loyola University Health System and associate provost in the Office of the President. Dr. Hardt directs the Catholic concentration in the Neiswanger Institute's graduate programs in bioethics, and he lectures in the medical school on issues relating to Catholicism and medicine. Much of his research focuses on professional ethics, end of life care in the Catholic tradition and physician conscience in the clinical encounter, a topic on which he offered testimony to the President s Council on Bioethics in Washington, D.C., in 2007. Dr. Hardt s scholarship has appeared in numerous publications, such as America Magazine, the American Journal of Bioethics and the Southern Medical Journal. In 2012, Dr. Hardt was awarded a funded appointment as a faculty scholar in the University of Chicago s Program on Medicine and Religion, where he studies the relationship between Ignatian spirituality, medicine and the training of medical students. He holds a master s degree in systematic theology and a doctorate in Christian ethics from Boston College.
Rabbi S. Joseph Ozarowski, PhD Rabbinic Chaplain, Jewish Healing Network of Chicago, Jewish Child and Family Services Rabbi Joseph Ozarowski serves as rabbinic chaplain to the Jewish Healing Network of Chicago, a program run by Jewish Child and Family Services and several other Jewish Federation agencies. For nearly three decades, Rabbi Ozarowski has enjoyed a distinguished career as a pulpit rabbi, educator, author and chaplain. An engaging teacher and speaker, he has served congregations in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, California and New York. Rabbi Ozarowski specializes in the fields of pastoral care and Judaism, and authored To Walk in God's Ways: Jewish Pastoral Perspectives on Illness and Bereavement. He was honored for his service by the Orthodox Union at its National Rabbinic Centennial Awards Dinner in 2001. He has also served as Executive Director of the Chicago Rabbinical Council and administrator of its Beth Din (Rabbinic Court). He was the past chair of the Pastoral Care Committee at Franklin Hospital Medical Center, in Valley Stream, New York, and has been a governing board member of the (New York) Metropolitan Coordinating Council on Bikur Holim. He served as Staff Jewish Chaplain at New York University Medical Center, where he created for the first time a professional Jewish presence at the extensive hospital campus. Rabbi Ozarowski received his bachelor s degree from Loyola University Chicago, his rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Theological College and his doctorate from Lancaster Theological Seminary.
Perry T. Hamalis, PhD Cecelia Schneller Mueller Professor of Religion, North Central College Perry Hamalis is an associate professor of religious studies and director of academic opportunities at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. He was born and raised in the Chicagoland area. A member of North Central College's faculty since 2004, his expertise and publications in the field of Eastern Orthodox virtue ethics have made him a soughtafter lecturer at conferences and universities. He serves as a consultant to the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, and his scholarship has been published in the Journal of Religion, the Greek Orthodox Theological Review and the Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics. In 2008, Dr. Hamalis was awarded North Central College's Dissinger Award for Junior Faculty, after colleagues and students commended him for his teaching skills. He was granted tenure in 2010, and he is now responsible for engaging students in the prestigious College Scholars Honors Program for high-achieving undergraduates. In 2011, he was named the Cecelia Schneller Mueller Professor of Religion. He holds a bachelor s degree in philosophy from Boston College, a master of divinity degree from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and a doctorate in ethics from the University of Chicago. Dr. Hamalis and his family worship at Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church in Westchester, Illinois, where he also serves as a chanter and occasional preacher.