Divinity School Presents Awards to Several Alums

A Presbyterian minister in South Boston and a professor of theology at Yale Divinity School received alumni awards from the Divinity School on June 3.

The Rev. Burns Stanfield, MDiv '88, received the First Decade Award, established to recognize the accomplishments of Divinity School graduates from the past 10 years.

For seven years he has been the pastor at Fourth Presbyterian Church in South Boston, where he has revitalized an old urban church by establishing programs in music and the arts, community mediation, and outreach to people with AIDS and the elderly.

A graduate of Princeton University, he has served on the board of Boston Cambridge Ministry in Higher Education. He is a member of the sponsoring committee for the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization and works with United Methodist Urban Services on a partnership program in South Boston dedicated to improving communication between youth and police.

He has served two terms on the Divinity School's alumni council and as a representative to the Harvard Alumni Association. He is also a Luce Fellow in Urban Ministry at the Divinity School. He and his wife, Lorraine, MD '88, have two children.

Letty M. Russell, STB '58, professor of theology at Yale Divinity School, received the Katzenstein Award. She is a frequent lecturer at seminaries and divinity schools around the country, and her many books and articles on feminist theology, women's rights, and women in theology and ministry include the Dictionary of Feminist Theologies (1996) and Feminist Interpretation of the Bible (1985).

A graduate of Wellesley College and Union Theological Seminary, she has taught at Manhattan College and worked with the YWCA, the World Council of Churches, and the National Council of Churches. She is also a member of the board of directors of the Women's Theological Center in Boston. As an ordained Presbyterian minister, she served for 10 years at the East Harlem Protestant Parish in New York City after graduating from the Divinity School.

The Katzenstein Award honors the memory of Rabbi Martin Katzenstein, ThM '58, acting dean of students at the Divinity School when he died in 1970.

A special presentation was made to the Rev. Arthur L. Whitaker, STB '52, in recognition of his contributions to the Alumni Association and his many years of service as counselor to Baptist students at the Divinity School.

Helmut Koester, retiring this year as the John H. Morison Professor of New Testament Studies and Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History, spoke on June 2 at the School's reunion dinner at the Harvard Club of Boston.

On June 3, Diana Eck, professor of comparative religion and Indian studies, delivered the Alumni Day keynote address on "The Changing Face of Religion in America." The Divinity School's alumni council also announced the establishment of an alumni scholarship fund as part of the School's current capital campaign.