Dr. Jay L. Wile, original author/creator of the Apologia Exploring Creation series and primary author of the Berean Builders science curriculum, holds an earned Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in nuclear chemistry and a B.S. in chemistry from the same institution. His love of science is demonstrated by the many awards he has won for excellence in teaching and research. He has also presented numerous lectures on the topics of Nuclear Chemistry, Christian Apologetics, Homeschooling, and Creation vs. Evolution. In addition, he has published 100+ articles on these subjects in nationally-recognized, peer-reviewed journals, and has about 20 books to his credit.
Jay Wile learned about his love for chemistry when his dedicated parents bought him his first chemistry set. Many stink bombs and a few explosions later, he was hooked! Although he loved chemistry, he also had many other interests. For a while, he thought about becoming a concert pianist, but unfortunately, his fingers were not long enough (no kidding!). As he was finishing up his high school years, he became extremely interested in the theater and began to pursue a career in acting. Partly because he learned the science behind some of the special effects of the plays in which he performed, he eventually went back to his first love: chemistry. (He didn't leave theater completely behind, though, and has in recent years performed in such plays as Our Town, Elephant Man, and had the role of Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha!)
He went to the University of Rochester in upstate New York to study chemistry, and while he was there, he began working on nuclear chemistry experiments. He became so fascinated with nuclear chemistry that he stayed at the University of Rochester and got a Ph.D. in that field. For several years, he did research in the field under the auspices of the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. This research led to several grants and many publications. While doing research, Dr. Wile was also an assistant professor of chemistry.
As a science professor, Wile taught several home school graduates, and those interactions made him interested in home schooling. He saw the need for better science textbooks and he published Exploring Creation with Biology and Chemistry in 1998. Other titles soon followed, and by 2005 Apologia Educational Ministries had exploded in growth. But by 2008, Jay decided to sell the company to the Davis Carman family. Over the next couple of years, they began to take the company in directions with which he was not comfortable, and he resigned in 2010. But he wasn't done writing science books for home school families! In 2013, he published the first book in the Berean Builders Science Through History series for elementary students, and as Apologia has replaced his junior and senior high school books, he has released new titles for those subjects. The latest, Discovering Design in Biology, is slated for a 2022 release.
Dr. Wile's teaching credits include The University of Rochester, Indiana University, Ball State University, and The Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics and Humanities, a high school for gifted and talented students. He currently spends his full-time efforts creating innovative science curriculum and speaking as a homeschool advocate throughout the US and other countries.
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