The prize citation for Dr. Curlin’s Barry Prize reads:
In a career that combines medical practice, empirical research, and ethical reflection, Farr Curlin
has helped the field of medicine confront increasingly urgent questions about how its work
intersects with religious belief and practice in a pluralistic society. His scholarship has shown
that widespread ethical problems created by the dominant service-provider model of medical
care can be alleviated if medical personnel develop a personal understanding of their
professional calling. The Academy honors Dr. Curlin’s distinguished contributions to humanity’s
aspiration that medical care be humane and effective.
Farr A. Curlin is Josiah Charles Trent Scholar in Medical Humanities in the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, and History of Medicine, and co-director of the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative at Duke University. Curlin has worked to bring attention to the intersection of medicine, ethics, and theology. In 2012 he helped to found both the University of Chicago’s Program on Medicine and Religion and the annual Conference on Medicine and Religion. Since 2015, through Duke Divinity School’s TMC Initiative, he and colleagues have brought graduate theological training to those with vocations to health care.
November 2026
The prize citation for Dr. Curlin’s Barry Prize reads:
In a career that combines medical practice, empirical research, and ethical reflection, Farr Curlin
has helped the field of medicine confront increasingly urgent questions about how its work
intersects with religious belief and practice in a pluralistic society. His scholarship has shown
that widespread ethical problems created by the dominant service-provider model of medical
care can be alleviated if medical personnel develop a personal understanding of their
professional calling. The Academy honors Dr. Curlin’s distinguished contributions to humanity’s
aspiration that medical care be humane and effective.
Farr A. Curlin is Josiah Charles Trent Scholar in Medical Humanities in the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, and History of Medicine, and co-director of the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative at Duke University. Curlin has worked to bring attention to the intersection of medicine, ethics, and theology. In 2012 he helped to found both the University of Chicago’s Program on Medicine and Religion and the annual Conference on Medicine and Religion. Since 2015, through Duke Divinity School’s TMC Initiative, he and colleagues have brought graduate theological training to those with vocations to health care.
November 2026