Clark Gilpin reappointed Dean of Divinity School

Gilpin, Associate Professor in the Divinity School and the College, was first appointed Dean of the Divinity School in 1990.

"Clark Gilpin is devoted to the Divinity School's academic distinction and has done a superb job as Dean," said President Sonnenschein. "I am delighted that he has agreed to accept another term, and I look forward to continuing to work with him to further strengthen the Divinity School."

Gilpin received his B.A. in 1967 from the University of Oklahoma, his M.Div. in 1970 from Lexington Theological Seminary and his A.M. in 1972 and his Ph.D. in 1974 from Chicago. He served on the faculties at Kenyon College and the Graduate Seminary of Phillips University before joining the Chicago faculty as Associate Professor in 1984.

From 1984 to 1990, Gilpin served as dean of Disciples Divinity House, a foundation for theological education affiliated with the University and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Its main purpose is to provide scholarships and related educational services to Disciples of Christ students attending the Divinity School.

Gilpin is a historian of American Christianity whose research and writing have focused on Puritanism and on the relation between religion and education in American culture. His work includes The Millenarian Piety of Roger Williams (1979), a biography of the 17th-century American advocate of religious and political liberty. He also has edited a series on theological education and the graduate study of religion in the journal Theological Education.

Gilpin has recently completed A Preface to Theology, a book on the academic study of theology in America from the 18th century to the present. His new research projects include an investigation of the 18th-century beginnings of American scholarship in comparative religion and a study of the "letter from prison" as a genre of religious literature from the Apostle Paul to Martin Luther King.

He and his wife, Nancy Gilpin, Adviser in the College, have been Resident Masters of Burton-Judson Courts since 1992.