Members and friends of SFN were saddened to hear of the death, in early 2019, of Professor Derek Burke CBE.

Derek was a founding member of Science and Faith in Norfolk and played a key role in the development of our role and programmes. In 2008, the then Bishop of Thetford, David Atkinson, asked Derek and others from the Norwich Research Park to gather together a group of clergy, and scientists who had a Christian faith, to offer one another mutual support and encouragement, and to explore the interactions between Science and Faith.

Calling ourselves Science and Faith in Norfolk (SFN), we initially met in Derek’s home. Over time the group recognised that there was a need to bring debates around science and faith – especially on specific topics - to a wider and more diverse community, and from this developed our regular programme of public lectures and discussions.

It was Derek who was the inspiration and prime mover in establishing our annual Science-Faith Cathedral lectures at Norwich Cathedral. These lectures were supported by the Dean of Norwich and the Bishop of Norwich as a forum to explore important scientific issues from a Christian perspective. Derek was a leading voice in encouraging the Diocese and the Cathedral to forge closer links with the scientific community in Norfolk. Among other things, this has led to the imminent visit of Dippy the Dinosaur to Norwich Cathedral in July 2020.

Derek had a distinguished research career in molecular biology and biomedicine before he became Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia (1987-1995). Throughout his life, Derek was a committed Christian, anxious to promote a constructive dialogue between science and religion. He had a special interest in ethical issues relating to social (and Christian) responsibility in science and, in 1995, he was appointed as a specialist adviser to the House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology.

Following his retirement from UEA, he became an Associate of the Faraday Institute of Science and Religion in Cambridge. He served as a member of the Board of Social Responsibility of the Church of England. From 1999 – 2001, he was the National President of Christians in Science.

Derek was a man who sought to apply his faith to the practical issues and responsibilities of life, and to the controversies that new science and technology can throw up. He understood that science and faith are not mutually exclusive, but mutual benefactors of one another. SFN has lost a wise, generous and committed colleague and friend.