David Downing, R.W. Schlosser Professor of English

Downing has written numerous articles on C. S. Lewis, and his "Planets in Peril: A Critical Study of C. S. Lewis’s Ransom Trilogy" was named one of the five best books yet published on Lewis by the C. S. Lewis and the Inklings Homepage. His "The Most Reluctant Convert: C. S. Lewis’s Journey to Faith" was named one of Booklist’s Best Religion Books for 2002 and was a 2003 Evangelical Christian Publishers Association Gold Medallion finalist. Downing was also awarded the Clyde S. Kilby Research Grant for 2000 by the Marion E. Wade Center in support of his research.

Downing's most recent book,"Into the Wardrobe: C.S. Lewis and the Narnia Chronicles," tells of the genesis of "The Chronicles of Narnia," a seven-book series written by Lewis. His "A South Divided: Portraits of Dissent in the Confederacy" is forthcoming from Rutgers University Press.

Downing earned a bachelor's degree in English from Westmont College, where he was named valedictorian. He earned a master's and doctorate in English from the University of California at Los Angeles.