John F. Kilner, PhD

John F. Kilner is professor of Bioethics and Contemporary Culture and director of Bioethics Programs at Trinity International University. He holds the Franklin and Dorothy Forman Chair of Christian Ethics and Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is also Senior Scholar for The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity (CBHD) based in Bannockburn, Illinois. Until Fall 2005, Dr. Kilner served as President and CEO of CBHD.

Prior to joining Trinity and CBHD, Dr. Kilner served as Senior Associate for Religion, Culture, and Health Care Ethics at the Park Ridge Center for the Study of Health, Faith, and Ethics in Chicago. He was also an adjunct faculty member at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago.

Dr. Kilner has been researching and teaching in the fields of ethics and medicine since 1973. He has done research in Switzerland, Boston, and Kenya; he has taught at institutions such as Asbury Theological Seminary, the University of Kentucky, and Harvard University.

Dr. Kilner received the Bachelor of Arts in English literature from Yale University and the Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He then earned the Master of Arts and the Doctor of Philosophy in ethics from Harvard University, where he received the Newcombe, Danforth, Eisenhower, DeKarman, Roothbert, Merit, Howe, and Sheldon awards. His general doctoral exams and PhD dissertation were recognized with distinction.

Dr. Kilner's areas of expertise include ethics, bioethics, contemporary culture, and social change. He frequently speaks at universities, medical organizations, and churches across the United States and abroad. Dr. Kilner is a member of numerous professional societies, including the American Academy of Religion, the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities, and the Society of Christian Ethics (where he cochairs the health care ethics section).

Dr. Kilner has authored and edited sixteen books published by Eerdmans, Kregel, Tyndale, Georgetown University Press, and Yale University Press: Life on the Line: Ethics, Aging, Ending Patients' Lives, and Allocating Vital Resources; Who Lives? Who Dies? Ethical Criteria in Patient Selection; Biotechnology and the Human Good; Cutting-Edge Bioethics; The Reproduction Revolution; Genetic Ethics; The Changing Face of Health Care; Dignity and Dying; Bioethics and the Future of Medicine; Alternative Medicine; End-of-Life Decisions; Suicide and Euthanasia; Sexuality and Reproductive Technologies; Does God Need Our Help? Cloning, Assisted Suicide, and Other Challenges in Bioethics; Healthcare Ethics; Genetics, Stem Cell Research, and Cloning; Genetics, Stem Cell Research, and Cloning; and Healthcare Ethics. He has also written many articles that have appeared in such periodicals as Hastings Center Report, Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law, American Journal of Public Health, Archives of Internal Medicine, and Hospital Practice.

Dr. Kilner has appeared in numerous interviews and debates in such television venues as NBC (with Tom Brokaw), Fox (with Bill O'Reilly), CBS, CNN, and PAX, such radio venues as National Public Radio, MBN Network, and Salem Network, and such newspaper venues as the New York Times, Washington Times, and Chicago Tribune. In June 2006 he received the 2006 Educator of the Year Award from the national Christian Medical & Dental Associations, presented in Irvine, California.

He and his wife, Suzanne, reside in Wilmette, Illinois. They have two children, Beth and Paul.