GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The Acton Institute announced today that Dr. Clara E. Piano, Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Mississippi, and Rev. A. Trevor Sutton, Ph.D., Senior Pastor of St. Luke Lutheran Church and Adjunct Professor of Theology at Concordia University, have joined the Acton Institute as affiliate scholars.
Dr. Piano brings an expertise in family economics, law and economics, and the economics of religion to her new role. Her research has earned recognition through several prestigious grants and awards, including the Women and Economic Freedom Grant from the Bridwell Institute. She is also a recipient of the Acton Institute’s Novak Award.
Rev. Sutton is the Senior Pastor of St. Luke Lutheran Church in Lansing, Michigan, and serves as an Adjunct Professor of Theology at Concordia University in Irvine, California. He is the author of several books, including Redeeming Technology (coauthored with Brian Smith, M.D.) and Authentic Christianity (coauthored with Gene Edward Veith Jr.), and is a frequent speaker on technology and the church in the digital age.
“Dr. Piano has been a longtime friend of the Acton Institute and a popular speaker at Acton University. I’m thrilled to welcome her as an affiliate scholar, a position that enables us to draw on her expertise in family economics and law,” said Dr. John Pinheiro, Director of Research at the Acton Institute. “Rev. Sutton will make a great addition as we continue to grapple with issues related to technology, artificial intelligence, and the human person.”