Board of Trustees

Gayne J. Anacker, Ph.D.

Senior Fellow, C.S. Lewis Study Center
CSLSC Board Chair
Philosopher, Professor, Author

Dr. Anacker holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Westmont College; a Master of Theological Studies from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; a Master of Arts in Philosophy from Washington State University in Pullman, Washington; and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of California, Irvine. He is the Founding President of Community Christian College, Redlands, California. He has served California Baptist University in various capacities, including Associate Provost, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Professor of Philosophy, Director of the Christ and Culture Distinguished Lectureship, Director of the Seminar on Faith and the Academic Profession for new CBU professors, and Director of the Honors Program. Dr. Anacker continues over two decades of volunteer service with the C.S. Lewis Foundation as Vice President and as Assistant Director of the triennial C.S. Lewis Summer Institute, “Oxbridge,” held in the cities and universities of Oxford and Cambridge, England.

Throughout his career, Dr. Anacker’s cantus firmus (foundational theme) has been the call for a renewal of vision and intellectual and spiritual integrity for Christians within the academy. He writes and speaks on C.S Lewis, virtue ethics, intellectual history, epistemology, and philosophy of religion. He is co-editor along with Dr. Timothy Mostellar of Contemporary Perspectives on C.S. Lewis’ The Abolition of Man: History, Philosophy, Education, and Science (2017). Gayne contributed the essay, “Narnia and the Moral Imagination” to The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy: The Lion, the Witch and the Worldview (Basham and Walls, ed., 2005).

Gayne and his wife, Karen, have been married 42 years.  They have one daughter, whom they home-educated, and who is currently teaching voice and pursuing a career in opera in New York City.


Mary Pomroy Key, Ph.D.

President, C.S. Lewis Study Center
Author, Educator, Counselor

Dr. Key earned both her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and her Master of Science in Counseling Psychology degrees from California Baptist University. She earned a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology with a specialty in College Student Development through the School of Education at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Key has served California Baptist University as a faculty member teaching in the Psychology, Education and Literature departments and in the Counseling Graduate Program. She has held positions as Counseling Center Director, Director of Women’s Housing, and Career Services Director. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, was in private practice for several years, and conducted seminars in organizational consulting.

Mary is co-author, along with Carolyn Curtis, of Women and C.S. Lewis: What his life and literature reveal for today’s culture. Mary and Carolyn began their collaboration after meeting at one of the C.S. Lewis Foundation’s Writer’s Retreats at Camp Allen, TX.

Mary has held the position of Executive Director (now President) of the C.S. Lewis Study Center since 2013 through its many transitions. She enjoys searching out mementos and stories related to the history of the home, “Green Pastures,” which houses the Study Center. Northfield is the perfect place for her to pursue her hobbies of photography, antiquing and historical research.

She and her husband, Scott, along with their two sons and daughter are avid Lewis and Tolkien fans. As a family, they have enjoyed every aspect of theater – acting, singing, dancing, dramaturgy, “propping,” and cheering on those who do it all. She and Scott recently “graduated” from 20 years of “Home Education” – after launching their three children into college and beyond. Their home is held up by bookcases, and their refrigerator is barely visible through the magnets collected from travels to over 40 states and 6 countries.


Scott B. Key, Ph.D.

Vice President for Academic Initiatives,
C.S. Lewis Study Center
Professor Emeritus, Philosopher, Minister, Author

Dr. Key earned his B.A. in Political Science from the University of New Mexico, and a Master’s of Divinity and Ph.D. in Philosophy from Southern Baptist Theological Seminar. Concurrent with his academic career, and throughout his life, he has served in a pastoral capacity in each of the communities in which he has resided.

As Professor of Philosophy in the School of Christian Ministries at California Baptist University, Scott helped establish and run the CBU Honors Program, and, previously, the 4-year Great Works Bachelor’s Degree Program. In addition, Scott is one of the founding faculty of the seven-year program entitled, Seminar on Faith and the Academic Professions (SOFAP), strategically designed to assist the 35-40 new tenure-track faculty each year to think deeply and carefully about their teaching, research, and service from the perspective of the Christian worldview. Scott has also served as the Chair of the Department of History, Philosophy, and Political Science; as Center Director for two off-site campuses; and as Campus Minister. He has taught courses in Philosophy, History, Political Science, English, Psychology, Christian Studies, and Humanities. His research areas include the history of philosophy, 20th Century Philosophy, Aesthetics, Ethics, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

Dr. Key is co-editor of the online journal, In Pursuit of Truth, presenter at Faculty Forums, and coordinator of the Academic Roundtable, all for the C.S. Lewis Foundation at their triennial “Oxbridge” conferences held in Oxford and Cambridge. In addition to leading seminars and fulfilling speaking engagements for the C.S. Lewis Study Center, Dr. Key has made academic presentations for such groups as the Society of Christian Philosophers, the Society of Christianity and Literature, the Evangelical Philosophical Society.

His publications include the following chapter contributions: “Metaphors of Meaning: The Dance of Truth and Imagination in That Hideous Stength” in Contemporary Perspectives on C.S. Lewis’ The Abolition of Man, (Mosteller & Anacker, eds., 2017) and “The Moral Aesthetic of Perelandra” in C.S. Lewis and the Arts: Creativity in the Shadowlands” (Miller, ed., 2013). His current research manuscript in preparation is entitled, “Truth in the Balance: A Literary and Philosophical Analysis of the Gospel of Mark.”

He and his wife, Mary, home-educated their three children, and are proud to see them navigating post-college, young adulthood transitions with courage and faithfulness.


Jim Bishop, J.D.

Board Member, C.S. Lewis Study Center
Attorney, Professor

Jim Bishop holds a B.A. in Political Science from the California State University in San Bernardino, and a J.D. from the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific.

He has long been interested in the issues of Faith and Politics, following closely the trends in U.S. constitutional law, ethics in contemporary American culture, and, with particular interest, the decisions of the United States Supreme Court.

He practiced law for 15 years and served for 18 years as Court Commissioner for the Riverside County Superior Court. He has taught at California Southern Law School for 41 years and now serves as the Dean of that school. He has committed himself to a lifetime of investing in the lives of young scholars through over four decades of teaching courses at the law school, community college and university levels. He has taught Contracts, Commercial Law and Agency & Partnerships at the law school, and currently teaches Business Law and various courses in Criminal Justice at California Baptist University where he serves as an Associate Professor.

Jim and his wife, Lisa, have two adult children.