Terry M. Christensen, member of Newtown Quaker Meeting, former ship captain, football and wrestling coach, and educator will present his Spiritual Journey to Newtown Meeting’s adult class at 9:45 a.m. on First Day (Sunday), November 22, 2020 via Zoom.
A native of the north Oregon coast, Terry Christensen was the first member of his family to attend college, earning a B.S. in physics from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
Christensen’s adventure-filled journey includes commercial fishing, an officer with the U.S. Merchant Marines, serving with Oregon Coast Towing in 1989 as First Officer onboard the M/V/ SALVAGE CHIEF during the refloating and on-site repair of the EXXON VALDEZ (on Bligh Reef on Prince William Sound, Alaska), coaching wrestling and football at George School and being a guest lecturer in the History of Science.
Terry has also served as Chief Instructor and Master of the Training Vessels INLAND CHIEF and BIG ED for the U.S. Department of Labor / National Maritime Union Seamanship Training Program at Tongue Point Job Corps Center in Astoria, Oregon.
In 1994, Terry developed a degenerative disease of the optic nerve. Eventually, he was able to take advantage of developments in adaptive technology and return to school. He earned a MAIS (Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies) in Spiritual Traditions and Ethics from Marylhurst University, and a MS and Ph.D. in the History of Science from Oregon State University.
He has published several academic papers and is currently working on a biography of the theoretical physicist John Archibald Wheeler. He has received awards and honors from the National Science Foundation, American Institute of Physics, Philadelphia Area Center for the History of Physics, American Philosophical Society, Oregon State University, and Marylhurst University.
Christensen has served on the Ad-Hoc Committee to Review Policies and Procedures for the History of Science Society and History and Philosophy of Science for the American Association of Physics Teachers, on the Alumni Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind, the Steering Committee of the Peace Center, clerk of Yardley Friends Meeting, and currently serves as Chair of the Board of Friends Home and Village in Newtown.
Terry Chistensen lives in Newtown with his wife, Betsy Cadwallader, a member of Yardley Friend Meeting.