Annual Faculty Lecture established
The Annual Faculty Lecture was “established by the GTU to honor distinguished scholars on the faculty, and to allow the community an opportunity to hear the results of their scholarship.” The lecturer is to embody the ecumenical spirit of the GTU in writing and teaching. The name was changed to the Distinguished Faculty Lecture in […]
Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute joins the consortium as an affiliate
The Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute becomes an affilate with GTU. The Institute’s mission is to educate, communicate, promote and sustain the traditions, values, teachings and culture of Orthodox Christianity.
“Practical Mysticism: The Psychosocial Dynamics of Change in the Mystical Tradition, Christian and Zen Buddhist” Ph.D. Dissertation by Francis James McGuire
New Religious Movements studied
A Program for the Study of New Religious Movements began in June. Concerned about their effect on American culture, the Rockefeller Foundation funded a conference in Berkeley, leading to a book, Understanding New Religions (1978), edited by Jacob Needleman and George Baker. In the next phase, 1980-83, the Program became the Center for the Study of New […]
Frankl Library inaugurated
In 1977, the Viktor E. Frankl Library and Memorabilia was inaugurated at GTU with Robert C. Leslie as curator. The special collection was established to contain all of Frankl’s writings and include all known books and articles about the psychotherapist and logotherapy. Frankl (1905-1997), a Jewish psychiatrist and neurologist, survived four concentration camps and founded […]
“The Cult of Liberation: The Berkeley Free Church and the Radical Church Movement, 1967-1972” Ph.D. Dissertation by Harlan Douglas Anthony Stelmach
“Asherah and Astarte in the Old Testament and Ugaritic Literatures” Ph.D. Dissertation by Alice Lenore Perlman
Ground is broken for new library building
“Let this Common Library be always a place where Your Glory will dwell,” Patrick LaBelle, O.P., prayed at the groundbreaking ceremony for Phase 1 of the building on June 24, 1979. The Board of Trustees decided to split the construction of the library into two phases. Phase 1 built the mechanical and storage for the […]
Sherman E. Johnson, Dean, 1962-1963
Sherman E. Johnson (1908-1993) was selected as the first dean of GTU while also serving as the dean at Church Divinity School of the Pacific (1951-1972). He had played a key role in the initial interseminary discussions leading to the formation of the GTU and is credited with suggesting the name Graduate Theological Union.
Franciscan School of Theology joins consortium
In 1854, Mission Santa Barbara was chartered as an apostolic college and continued in that capacity until 1885. From 1869 to 1877, the school also functioned as a college for laymen. In 1896, it began as a four-year high school seminary program. The high school and college departments became separate institutions in 1901 and 1929. […]