Chicago Theological Seminary Presidential Search

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From the Board Chair

About Alice Hunt

Comments on the Search

About CTS

CTS Vision, Mission and Commitment

For 10 years, Chicago Theological Seminary has been blessed to have Susan B. Thistlethwaite as our president. When she announced her desire to return to teaching, we responded with delight in adding such an outstanding educator to our classrooms but also, in truth, with some trepidation. Filling her place as the steady hand at the helm of our institution would be no small undertaking.

In spring 2007, CTS organized a 15-member Presidential Search Committee composed of trustees, faculty, students and friends of the seminary. The committee was charged to leave no stone unturned in searching for the next great leader of this vitally important ministry. Boardwalk Consulting, a search firm experienced in filling leadership positions for religious ministries, helped us prepare a profile by which to measure candidates and guide our search.

Together, we contacted more than 200 individuals for leads and advice, identified more than a dozen qualified candidates and interviewed five finalists. As the search narrowed, the entire CTS faculty and senior staff were given an opportunity to meet with a leading candidate, who also was introduced to students and the wider CTS community. After almost a year of meeting every other week, prayerful discernment led the search committee to recommend unanimously that the board of trustees elect Dr. Alice Hunt the 12th president of CTS.

Once more, CTS enters a time of great promise with the guidance of a vital and caring leader. We look forward to entering an exciting new era as we continue our distinctive role in educating transformative leaders of faith.

- Don Clark, Chair, Chicago Theological Seminary
Board of Trustees

CTS Presidential Search Committee

Co-Chairs:
Rev. Craig B. Mousin, Trustee, Secretary of the Board
David A. Bueschel, Advisory Trustee

Trustees
Donald Clark Jr., chairman
Harold (Pete) Bott
Iva Carruthers, Ph.D.
Dr. Deborah Daro
Raymond Felson
Richard Harter
Howard Morgan
Greg Pine
Nancy Sutherland

Advisory Trustee
Nancy Boruch

Honorary Trustee
Rev. Jane Fisler Hoffman, Illinois Conference Minister, UCC

Faculty
Dr. Tim Sandoval
Dr. Bo Myung Seo

Students
Gracie Bates-Davis
Matt Frizzell

For nearly 10 years I have been privileged to serve CTS as its president. Through my work I have met and worked hard with many other seminary presidents. I have seen that those who succeed are those who are listening to the call of God both in their own lives and in the seminary community as a whole. They are constantly urging themselves and the community to lift one another up. We do this for one another at CTS. It is why I have been here for 25 years and love CTS so much.

I accepted the presidency because I cherish CTS and the true creativity of this educational institution. I am so happy not to be leaving, but to be able to rejoin the faculty and to teach full-time.

Next to the door of the CTS library there is a sign with a quotation from Jorge Luis Borges: "I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library." That’s partly true for me, but Paradise will not truly be a paradise for me unless there are also some classrooms. I’m eagerly looking forward to my return.

- Susan Thistlethwaite, President, Chicago Theological Seminary, 1999–2008