Magis Institute is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to public education concerning the complementary relationship among the varied disciplines of physics, philosophy, reason, and faith. It was founded by Jesuit priest and former Gonzaga University president Robert J. Spitzer, SJ. The institute's primary outreaches are the Magis Center, The Purposeful Universe, and The Magis Institute for Teachers and Catechists.

Fr. 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.^[1] Spitzer is currently the President of the institute.

Magis Institute originally was created simply to be a center for Catholic spirituality. 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.^[2]

On 10 September 2010, the institute was mentioned on the CNN program Larry King Live.^[3] Father Spitzer appeared as a panelist on the program which featured Dr. Stephen Hawking, Hawking's literary collaborator, Leonard Mlodinow, and author Deepak Chopra in a one-hour prime-time discussion on the need for a transcendent creator of the universe.

The institute, through Magis Center for Reason and Faith, has utilized different methods to leverage media to publicize a view of the compatibility of faith and reason: