Ronald F. Thiemann (1946-2012) was the former dean of Harvard Divinity School and held the Benjamin Bussey Professorship of Theology at Harvard University. An ordained Lutheran and a specialist on the role of religion in public life, Professor Thiemann was the author of Revelation and Theology: The Gospel as Narrated Promise, Constructing a Public Theology: The Church in a Pluralistic Culture, and Religion in Public Life: A Dilemma for Democracy; he was also an editor and author of Who Will Provide: The Changing Role of Religion in American Social Welfare.