Robert Spitzer, SJ, a Jesuit priest, philosopher, educator, author, speaker, and retired President of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, joined with Tim Busch to create the Magis Institute.
In 2008, Father Spitzer and his associates at Magis considered how they might offer a reasoned, scientific alternative viewpoint to those publicly expressed by "new atheism" writers such as Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins.
As a result of these conversations, Father Spitzer began the Magis Center for Reason and Faith to provide a framework for the creation and distribution of materials expressing this alternative viewpoint.
On 3 September 2010, the Catholic News Agency featured Spitzer in a printed response to the announcement of Stephen Hawking's new book touching on the subject of the origins of the universe.
[5] Former NBC News and Today Show producer Martha Cotton works with the institute to make these complex issues more intelligible and to prompt discussions among high school students.