Deborah Haarsma

Dr. Deborah Haarsma served as President of BioLogos from 2013 to 2024.   Under Haarsma’s leadership, BioLogos grew in both numbers and influence, from private events and a small website to extensive programs and widespread impact (see Our History). During her tenure, BioLogos built an extensive network of experts, writers, and speakers, and developed national conferences, a high-school curriculum, and a podcast.  BioLogos became the leading resource on the viewpoint of evolutionary creation and went on to help Christians wrestle with many complex science topics, always working at the intersection of Christ-centered faith and rigorous science and in a spirit of gracious dialogue. 

Haarsma is a frequent speaker on modern science and Christian faith at churches, universities, and conferences. In addition to extensive writing and speaking for BioLogos, she has appeared on several podcasts, including Undeceptions (on Outer Space and on The Multiverse) and the Jesus Storybook Bible podcast. Her writing has been featured at Big Think and Sojourners, as well as in several books, including Four Views on Creation, Evolution, and Design, the collection Calvinism for a Secular Age, and the collection Christ and the Created Order.   She wrote the book Origins with her husband and fellow physicist, Loren Haarsma, presenting the agreements and disagreements among Christians regarding the history of life and the universe.  

Previously, Haarsma served as professor and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Calvin University. In her research, she used telescopes around the world and in orbit to pursue extragalactic astronomy and observational cosmology, with publications on young galaxies, large galaxies, galaxy clusters, the curvature of space, and the expansion of the universe.  Haarsma completed her doctoral work in astrophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (profile by MIT’s Octet Collaborative) and her undergraduate work in physics and music at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota (profile for 2022 Alumna of the Year award). She and Loren enjoy science fiction and classical music, and live in Grand Rapids, Michigan.