wfn.org | Seminary meeting faculty diversity goal

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Aug. 14, 1998	Contact: Thomas S. McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville,
Tenn.         {481}

By United Methodist News Service

United Methodist Iliff School of Theology in Denver - criticized in
recent months by a group of students for its lack of faculty diversity -
has named three new faculty members, two of whom are persons of color.

"The appointments of these three outstanding teacher-scholars reflect
Iliff's long-established commitment to both excellence and diversity in
theological education," said the school's president,  Donald Messer.
"The long-established goals we had set for ourselves are now being
realized."

Iliff's racially diverse faculty includeHispanic, Native American,
African American, Asian American, and African scholars.  The faculty
also includes inter-religious diversity with Jewish and Buddhist
professors.

Eunjoo Mary Kim, a Korean American;  Yolanda Yvette Smith, an African
American; and Richard Ward, a caucasian (correct?), will be assuming
full-time positions at various times during the 1998-99 academic year,
Messer announced.  With their addition, Iliff now has 17 full-time
teaching faculty,  41 percent of whom are persons of color and 35
percent of whom are women.  All three new faculty members are ordained.

Delwin Brown, vice president and dean of academic affairs, said three
new faculty members in areas of ministerial arts "dramatically
illustrate Iliff's commitment to the preparation of persons for
effective leadership in the local church."

Kim will assume her position  as assistant professor of homiletics at
Iliff at the beginning of the spring quarter of 1999.  Currently she is
a member of the adjunct faculty at New Brunswick Theological Seminary
and associate pastor of New Garden Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood,
N.J. She has taught and lectured  at the Korean Women's Bible Institute
in Louisville, Ky.; Honam Theological University, Kwangju, Korea; and
the Institute of Continuing Education of Sooncheon  Presbytery,
Presbyterian Church in Korea.  She has also been on the staff of
Presbyterian and United Methodist Churches in New York and in Korea

Smith will begin in the fall quarter as visiting assistant professor of
Christian religious education.  She has been serving at United
Methodist-related Claremont (Calif.) School of Theology as director of
the Allen J. Moore Multicultural Resource and Research Center.   While
working on her Ph.D. at Claremont, she was faculty assistant for Cornish
Rogers and teaching assistant for Mary Elizabeth Moore, both
widely-known in seminary education circles. Ordained in the American
Baptist Church, Smith has served churches in California and Arizona.
Her background also includes secondary school teaching in the field of
special education.

Ward, the Clement-Muehl Associate Professor of Communication Arts at
Yale Divinity School since 1993, has been appointed director of the
Doctor of Ministry Program in Preaching and Pastoral Leadership and
associate professor of preaching and performance studies.  He will
assume his on-campus responsibilities during the winter quarter.

Ward has taught at United Methodist-related Candler School of Theology
in Atlanta and at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake
Forest, N.C..  He is a clergy member of the United Church of Christ and
has served in local church and campus ministry.

Iliff, one of 13 United Methodist seminaries in the United States,  has
325 students representing 22 denominations, 36 states and nine
countries.

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
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http://www.umc.org/umns/