It was founded in 1999 by Baylor president Robert B. Sloan "with the primary aim of advancing the understanding of the sciences" in a religious context and was named for Michael Polanyi.

Baylor president Robert B. Sloan rejected the faculty demand, and the confrontation was resolved by agreeing to appoint a committee of people from outside the university.

Dembski objected and was removed as director in October 2000, and was appointed an associate research professor in the institute, a position he held until he left Baylor in 2005.

Gordon was named interim director and the center was renamed the Baylor Science and Religion Project and placed under the supervision of the institute.

Sloan, a New Testament Scholar with a doctorate in theology from the University of Basel,[2] proposed to return the school to its mission of integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment.

[4] As a result in October 1999, Baylor's Michael Polanyi Center was quietly established separately from the IFL and without oversight from any existing academic structures.

Nevertheless, the conference attracted a variety of scientists, theologians and philosophers, including Alan Guth, John Searle, Christian de Duve, and Nobel Prize-winner Steven Weinberg.

The conference brought things to a head[clarification needed] and, as a result, on April 18 the Faculty Senate voted 27–2 for the center to be abolished.

This call was rejected by Sloan on April 20, who commented: A compromise was later reached to form an independent committee to review the center, consisting of eight faculty members from across the country to be chaired by the Professor of Philosophy William F.

I'm deeply grateful to President Sloan and Baylor University for making this possible, as well as to the peer review committee for its unqualified affirmation of my own work on intelligent design.

[15][16] Gordon was named interim director and by 2001 the center had been renamed The Baylor Science and Religion Project and placed under the institute.