Union Theological Seminary (New York) - Notable Alumni

Notable Alumni

• Rubem Alves – Brazilian theologian and writer
• William Scott Ament (Bachelor of Divinity, 1877) – controversial American missionary to China (1877–1909).
• John Batchelor - American radio news show writer and host.
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer – German Lutheran theologian and Nazi resister who spent half a year at UTS. Of UTS he wrote: "There is no theology here....they talk a blue streak without the slightest substantive foundation and with no evidence of any criteria. The students....are completely clueless with respect to what dogmatics is really about. They are unfamiliar with even the most basic questions. They become intoxicated with liberal and humanistic phrases, laugh at the fundamentalists, and yet basically are not even up to their level."
• Anton Boisen – founder of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) movement
• Marcus Borg – Biblical scholar and author; former Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University
• Frederick Buechner – Writer
• Frederick Buckley Newell (Bachelor of Divinity, 1916) – Bishop of The Methodist Church
• Edwin Otway Burnham (Bachelor of Divinity, 1855) – a rifle shooting Presbyterian missionary in Sioux Indian territory who could bark a squirrel, swing an axe or dispense Gospel with equal ferver and efficiency.
• Walter Brueggemann – William Marcellus McPheeters professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary
• Gladwyn M. Childs – Anthropologist and missionary
• Nelson Cruikshank (Master of divinity, 1929) – Labor union activist and strategist responsible for the passage of Medicare
• David Dellinger – Noted American peace activist and member of the Chicago Seven.
• Helen Flanders Dunbar (B.D. 1927) – an important early figure in U.S. psychosomatic medicine.
• Franklin I. Gamwell – Shailer Mathews Professor of Religious Ethics, the Philosophy of Religion, and Theology at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago
• David P. Gushee – Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University. Author of 9 books and over 70 articles
• Mark Hanson – current Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
• Richard Holloway – Scottish writer and broadcaster and was formerly Bishop of Edinburgh.
• Dwight Hopkins – Professor of Theology at the Divinity School at the University of Chicago
• Myles Horton – Co-founder of the Highlander Center
• William H. Hudnut III – former Mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana (1976–1992)
• Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz – Professor of Ethics and Theology at Drew University
• Mark Juergensmeyer – Professor of Sociology, Religious Studies and Global Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Director of the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies.
• Norman J. Kansfield – President New Brunswick Theological Seminary 1993–2005. Senior Scholar in Residence, Theological School, Drew University.
• James Franklin Kay – Professor of Homiletics and Liturgics at Princeton Theological Seminary
• James David Manning – chief pastor at the ATLAH World Missionary Church.
• Rachel Kollock McDowell, religion editor of the New York Times (1920-1948)
• Andrew McLellan – former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
• Bruce McLeod (PhD) – Moderator of the United Church of Canada
• William P. Merrill – first president on the Church Peace Union, writer of "Rise Up, O Men of God"
• Scott Rennie – Minister of the Church of Scotland at Queen's Cross Church, Aberdeen
• James Herman Robinson (1938) – founder of Operation Crossroads Africa, a forerunner of the Peace Corps–
• Paul Sherry – President of the United Church of Christ (1989–1999)
• Henry Sloane Coffin, 1926, President of Union Theological Seminary
• Andrea Smith – Cherokee intellectual and anti-violence activist
• John Sung – A renowned Chinese Christian evangelist who played an instrumental role in the revival movement among the Chinese in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia during the 1920s and 1930s.
• John Stoltenberg – feminist writer
• Norman Thomas – American Socialist
• K. H. Ting – President emeritus of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and China Christian Council
• George W. Webber (1920–2010), President of the New York Theological Seminary.
• Walter Wink- Biblical scholar and activist
• Delores Williams – Womanist theologian
• Lynn de Silva (Master of Sacred Theology) – Sri Lankan theologian, former director of the Ecumenical Institute for Study and Dialogue, Methodist minister, and a pioneer in promoting Buddhist–Christian dialogue
• E.P. Sanders – A principle founder in the New Perspective on Paul movement
• Malcolm Boyd – American Episcopal Priest and author. He was one the most prominent Gay clergy person to come out of the closet when he came out in 1977. For two years in 1956 and 1957, Boyd engaged in post-graduate studies at Union Theological Seminary where he wrote his first book - "Crisis in Communication." He participated in the Civil Rights and Anti-Vietnam War movements in the 1960s.