GTU Announces the Hiring of Dr. Uriah Y. Kim as Dean

For Immediate Release, May 4, 2016

The Graduate Theological Union of Berkeley, California, has announced the hiring of Dr. Uriah Y. Kim as Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs and John Dillenberger Professor of Biblical Studies. Dr. Kim will begin his service at the GTU in January 2017. As Dean, Kim will oversee the further development and implementation of the GTU’s newly redesigned PhD program as well as its MA program, working with faculty and administrative colleagues to create an interactive learning environment that fosters dialogue among the world’s religious traditions and across academic disciplines.

Dr. Kim received his PhD from the Graduate Theological Union in 2004, and was named the GTU’s 2013 Alumnus of the Year. He also holds an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey, a ThM from Candler School of Theology of Emory University in Atlanta, and a BA in philosophy from New York University.

For the last eleven years, Uriah Kim has been on the faculty of Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, serving most recently as both Academic Dean and Professor of Hebrew Bible. During his tenure as Hartford’s Dean, Kim directed the school’s reaccreditation self-study, guided and wrote a new faculty handbook, and developed an assessment plan for all the school’s degree programs. Kim also worked with faculty and administration to design new PhD programs at Hartford in the fields of Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations, helped to develop a new master’s program in Transformative Leadership and Spirituality, and worked collaboratively with faculty to advance the school’s online curriculum.

Kim understands his service as theological educator, scholar, and dean to be different expressions of what he calls his “sincere and life-long pursuit to know truth, to love God, and to serve others.” He is delighted to be returning to the GTU, where he found his own distinctive theological voice as a student. “The GTU was the place where my scholarship was shaped, and where I deepened my commitment to work that is ecumenical, interreligious, interdisciplinary, and socially engaged.” He expressed his excitement at taking on a leadership role at the Graduate Theological Union, a school that “gives students the space and resources to explore their own scholarship, to find their own voices.”

GTU President Riess Potterveld celebrated the announcement of Uriah Kim’s hiring. “I look forward to working with Uriah as we further expand the representation of the great world religious and wisdom traditions at the GTU. His academic background and service at Hartford have prepared him to lead the next chapter of the GTU’s evolution as a major center for interreligious study.”

About the Graduate Theological Union

Founded in 1962, the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, is home to the largest PhD program in religious studies in North America. As a consortium of independent theological schools, the Graduate Theological Union includes eight seminaries—two Roman Catholic, five Protestant, and one Unitarian Universalist. In addition, the GTU features a variety of academic centers and affiliates, including the Center for Jewish Studies, the Center for Islamic Studies, the Center for Dharma Studies, the Institute of Buddhist Studies, the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute, the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, and the Center for the Arts, Religion, and Education. The GTU is dedicated to building bridges within and across different religious traditions, and is the home of the Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, one of the largest theological libraries in the U.S.

Contact: Doug Davidson, Director of Communications
Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Rd., Berkeley, CA 94709
communications@gtu.edu, 510-649-2423, www.gtu.edu