Professor David Fergusson and Dr Ximian Simeon Xu are the founding Co-Directors of the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology.
David Fergusson studied philosophy and theology in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Oxford. He took up his current post in April 2021, having been Professor of Systematic Theology in the University of Aberdeen (1990–2000) and Professor of Divinity in the University of Edinburgh (2000–2021). He serves as Dean of the Chapel Royal in Scotland and Dean of the Order of the Thistle. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2004) and a Fellow of the British Academy (2013).
You can visit his complete profile here.
Ximian Xu (徐西面; preferred name: Simeon) is originally from Wenzhou, China, a city referred to as “China’s Jerusalem” by the BBC. He completed Master of Divinity (First Class Honours) at the School of Divinity, the University of Edinburgh, in 2013, followed by Master of Theology in History (Distinction) in 2017 and PhD in systematic theology in 2020 at the same School. His doctoral thesis explored the Dutch Neo-Calvinist theologian Herman Bavinck’s idea of theology as the science of God and constructively articulated how this theological idea can help demonstrate the due place of theology in contemporary universities. In 2021, Simeon joined the University of Edinburgh’s School of Divinity and Edinburgh Futures Institute as Kenneth and Isabel Morrison Post-doctoral Research Fellow in Theology and Ethics of AI, followed by Duncan Forrester Fellow in the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities/Centre for Theology and Public Issues (2024). Having lived in Edinburgh for about 12 years, Simeon joined the Faculty of Divinity as Senior Research Associate in January 2025. He also serves as Co-Director (with Prof. David Fergusson) of the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology, funded by Lux Mundi Inc. (USA).
You can visit his complete profile here.