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Princeton Seminary Recognizes Retiring Pittsburgh Theological Seminary President Dr. C. Samuel Calian with Distinguished Alumnus Award

Princeton, NJ, May 20, 2005– Dr. C. Samuel Calian, retiring Pittsburgh Theological Seminary president, received Princeton Theological Seminary’s Distinguished Alumnus Award at its annual Reunion Banquet on May 20. He was celebrated for his visionary leadership in the academic theological community as president of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary for twenty-four years; his contributions to the Pittsburgh-area community; his prolific writing that has greatly contributed to the church and to the venture of theological education; and for his deep love for the church. The award ceremony capped the two-day reunion for graduates from across the decades.

Calian, a Princeton Seminary graduate in the Class of 1958, began his relationship with Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1981 as president and professor of theology. Prior to that he was on the faculty of Dubuque Theological Seminary for 18 years. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and holds a D.Theol. (Ph.D.) magna cum laude from the University of Basel.

As president of Pittsburgh, Calian strengthened the institution’s faculty and increased the endowment, student enrollment, and the number of graduates serving in the pastoral ministry. He expanded the program of continuing education, and established the Metro Urban Institute, the Center for Business, Religion, and Public Life, the Summer Youth Institute, and the World Mission Initiative.

Within the Pittsburgh-area community he has provided leadership to community boards, worked to build bridges between the Seminary and the city and its public institutions regarding faith, ethics, and the workplace.

He is committed to ecumenical partnerships, participates in Jewish-Christian dialogue, and was awarded the Patriarchal Medal of Honor for his studies in Orthodoxy.

The Rian Lectures at this year’s reunion gathering were given by Daniel L. Migliore, Princeton Seminary’s Charles Hodge Professor of Systematic Theology. Migliore is a longtime member of the Seminary’s theology faculty, having taught here since 1962. He is an ordained Presbyterian minister and is interested in ecumenism and committed in his teaching and scholarship to the importance of Christian faith and practice in a multicultural world. Nancy Lammers Gross, Princeton Seminary’s Arthur Sarell Rudd Professor of Speech Communication in Ministry, preached at a Service of Remembrance and led a hymn sing/worship service. She teaches both preaching and speech and began her ministry in the parish as an associate pastor. Iain R. Torrance, Princeton Seminary’s sixth president and professor of patristics, addressed the gathering and gave the alumni/ae convocation. Torrance came to Princeton from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, where he was dean of the Faculty of Arts and Divinity and professor of patristics and Christian ethics. He began his ministry as a parish pastor and has also served as a chaplain to Britain’s armed forces.

Princeton Theological Seminary was founded in 1812 as the first seminary established by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. It is the largest Presbyterian seminary in
the country, with more than 700 students in six graduate degree programs.