James M. Houston

Born on 21 November 1922,^[6] in Edinburgh, Scotland,^[8] Houston moved to Oxford in 1945 for doctoral studies in geography at the University of Oxford.^[9] He received his doctorate in c. 1950.^[10] His thesis was titled The Social Geography of the Huerta of Valencia.^[10] Houston was a fellow of Hertford College, Oxford, where he served as a geography lecturer.^[11]

Houston emigrated with his wife and four children to North America in 1970, and became one of the founders of Regent College, a graduate school of Christian studies. From 1970 to 1978, he was Principal of the college,^[a] and in 1991 he was appointed to the chair. His major areas of interest include the Christian mind, the Trinity, prayer, and spiritual formation. He has published numerous articles in books and scholarly journals.^[13] His autobiography, Memoirs of a Joyous Exile and a Worldly Christian, was published in 2020.^[14]

He later resided in Vancouver. In addition to his continuation of writing, Houston spent a great deal of time mentoring students. Houston had four children, nine grandchildren, and fifteen great-grandchildren. He was the primary caregiver for his wife, Rita, who had dementia in her latter years and died on 8 October 2014, at the age of 90.^[15][16]

Houston turned 100 in November 2022,^[17] and died in Vancouver on 15 March 2026, at the age of 103.^[18]