# Michael Reiss > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Michael_Reiss > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Michael_Reiss.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Reiss > Source revision: 1350967738 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|British bioethicist, educator, and priest (born 1960)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}} {{Use British English|date=September 2016}} '''Michael J. Reiss''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRSA|FRSB}} (born 1960) is a British [bioethicist](/source/bioethicist), educator, [journalist](/source/journalist), and [Anglican](/source/Anglican) priest.{{cite web|url=http://www.ioe.ac.uk/staff/CPAT/GEMS_71.html|title=Michael Reiss - UCL Institute of Education, University College London|publisher=|accessdate=15 January 2015}} Reiss is professor of science education at the [Institute of Education](/source/Institute_of_Education), [University College London](/source/University_College_London), where he is assistant director, research and development. ==Family== Reiss's father was an [obstetrician](/source/obstetrician); his mother, a [midwife](/source/midwife). His father was [Jewish](/source/Jewish); his mother, an agnostic. Reiss had a secular upbringing in north London."[https://www.theguardian.com/education/2006/nov/28/academicexperts.highereducationprofile Michael Reiss: How to convert a generation]," ''[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)'', 28 November 2006. ==Career== He began his career as a schoolteacher at [Hills Road Sixth Form College](/source/Hills_Road_Sixth_Form_College), Cambridge in 1983. In 1989, he became a lecturer and tutor in the Department of Education at the [University of Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge). At the age of 29, Reiss began training for ministry in the [Church of England](/source/Church_of_England) with the [East Anglian Ministerial Training Course](/source/East_Anglian_Ministerial_Training_Course): he was [ordained](/source/ordained) in the [Church of England](/source/Church_of_England) as a [deacon](/source/Deacon) in 1990 and as a [priest](/source/Priest) in 1991.{{Crockford| surname = Reiss | forenames = Prof Michael Jonathan | id = 19238 | accessed = 31 May 2021}} For many years, he led the Sunday service in his local village near Cambridge. He was a [senior lecturer](/source/senior_lecturer) at Cambridge until 1998, then [reader](/source/Reader_(academic_rank)) in education and bioethics until 2000. From 2003, he was chief executive of the Science Learning Centre in London.Who's Who, 2009 From 2006 to 2008, he was director of education at the [Royal Society](/source/Royal_Society), a position he resigned on 16 September 2008, following protests{{cite news |first=Harry |last=Kroto |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/sep/28/religion |title=Blinded by a divine light |work=The Guardian |date=28 September 2008 |accessdate=12 May 2016 }} about his views on tackling [creationism](/source/creationism) when teaching [evolution](/source/evolution) in schools, which the Royal Society said were "open to misinterpretation".{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7619670.stm |title='Creationism' biologist quits job |accessdate=2008-09-16 |work=[BBC News](/source/BBC_News) |date=2008-09-16 }}{{cite news |first=Ian |last=Sample |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/sep/16/michael.reiss.resignation |title=Reiss resigns over call to discuss creationism in science lessons |work=The Guardian |date=16 September 2008 |accessdate=12 May 2016 }} Reiss works in the fields of [science education](/source/science_education), [bioethics](/source/bioethics), and [sex education](/source/sex_education). He has a special interest in the ethical implications of [genetic engineering](/source/genetic_engineering). He was formerly head of the School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology at the Institute of Education, [University College London](/source/University_College_London). In science education, he currently directs projects funded by the [Department for Children, Schools and Families](/source/Department_for_Children%2C_Schools_and_Families), including a [longitudinal](/source/longitudinal_study), [ethnographic](/source/ethnography) study of pupils' learning, currently in its eleventh year. Reiss is a frequent consultant to the Royal Society, the [Qualifications and Curriculum Authority](/source/Qualifications_and_Curriculum_Authority), the [Training and Development Agency for Schools](/source/Training_and_Development_Agency_for_Schools) (formerly known as the Teacher Training Agency or the [TTA](/source/Teacher_Training_Agency)) and other organisations. He serves on the editorial board of the ''International Journal of Science Education''.{{cite web |url=http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/journal.asp?issn=0950-0693&linktype=5 |title=''International Journal of Science Education'', editorial board |accessdate=2008-09-19 |publisher=[Taylor and Francis](/source/Taylor_and_Francis) |year=2008 }} He was a specialist adviser to the House of Lords Select Committee on Animals in Scientific Procedures, 2001–02, and is a member of the Farm Animal Welfare Council. As early as November 2006, Reiss suggested that, rather than dismissing [creationism](/source/creationism) as a "misconception," teachers should take the time to explain why creationism had no scientific basis. In September 2008, his views were presented in some media reports as lending support to teaching creationism as a legitimate point of view; however both he and the Royal Society later stated that this was a misrepresentation.Press Release: "[http://royalsociety.org/news.asp?id=8004 No change in Society's position on creationism]," Royal Society, 12 September 2008."[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7612152.stm Call for Creationism in Science]," [BBC](/source/BBC), 13 September 2008.For example, "[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article4734767.ece Leading scientist urges teaching of creationism in schools]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}," ''TimesOnline'', 12 September 2008. Reiss stressed that the topic should not be taught as [science](/source/science), but rather should be construed as a cultural "[Worldview](/source/Worldview)."Reiss on-line blog posting: [https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2008/sep/11/michael.reiss.creationism "Science lessons should tackle creationism and intelligent design,"] ''[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)'', 11 September 2008. Reiss argued that it was more effective to engage with pupils' ideas about creationism, rather than to obstruct discussion with those who do not accept the scientific version of the [evolution of species](/source/Evolutionism). In July 2009, he led a number of the UK's most senior scientists in writing to the Schools Secretary Ed Balls to complain that Ofsted's proposed new curriculum for primary schools did not mention evolution.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8171000/8171722.stm | work=BBC News | title=Today: Tuesday 28 July 2009 | date=28 July 2009 | accessdate=12 May 2010}} In 2010 Reiss debated [Michael Behe](/source/Michael_Behe) on the topic of [Intelligent Design](/source/Intelligent_Design).{{cite web |url=https://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable/Episodes/Unbelievable-27-Nov-2010-Mike-Behe-Michael-Reiss-audience-debate-on-ID |title=Unbelievable? 27 Nov 2010 - Mike Behe & Michael Reiss audience debate on ID |date=27 November 2010 |accessdate=12 May 2016 }} In 2022, he was elected a member of the [Academia Europaea](/source/Academia_Europaea).{{cite web|title=Michael Reiss|url=https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Reiss_Michael|work=Member|publisher=Academia Europaea|access-date=2024-10-06}} ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * https://web.archive.org/web/20170523121822/http://reiss.tc/ * [http://www.ioe.ac.uk/staff/GEMS/GEMS_71.html Institute of Education web page] * [https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=MJREI02 Prof Michael Reiss] at IRIS UCL {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Reiss, Michael}} Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century British biologists Category:21st-century British biologists Category:English Jews Category:20th-century English Anglican priests Category:21st-century English Anglican priests Category:Schoolteachers from Cambridgeshire Category:British bioethicists Category:British former atheists and agnostics Category:People educated at Westminster School, London Category:Converts to Anglicanism from atheism or agnosticism Category:Academics of the UCL Institute of Education Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Biology Category:Members of Academia Europaea Category:Academics of the University of Cambridge Category:Theistic evolutionists Category:Science activists Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts Category:English male journalists --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Michael Reiss](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Reiss) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Reiss?action=history)). 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