PROFESSOR R. DREW SMITH PRESENTS LECTURE AHEAD OF INSTALLATION TO HENRY L. HILLMAN CHAIR OF URBAN MINISTRY
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary invites you to an installation lecture March 22, 2022, at 4:30 p.m. in Hicks Chapel. The Rev. Dr. R. Drew Smith, professor of urban ministry, will present the Henry L. Hillman Urban Ministry Lecture—”Urban Imaginaries and Sacredness of Place: Race, Neighborhood Province, and Socio-Religious Vantage Points”—ahead of his installation to this chair in fall 2022.
This event will be in-person and online. A reception will follow the lecture.
ABOUT PROFESSOR SMITH
The Rev. Dr. R. Drew Smith earned his undergraduate degree from Indiana University, and his master of divinity, master of arts, and Ph.D. in political science from Yale University. He has initiated and directed a number of projects related to religion and public life which have collected research data on political involvements, community development activities, and outreach ministries of churches, especially African American churches. He has also conducted similar research in South Africa and East Africa, including while serving in 2005 as a Fulbright professor at the University of Pretoria. His research over the years has been funded by sources such as Pew Charitable Trusts, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Luce Foundation (including two current projects at PTS on gentrification, race, and theological education and COVID-19's impact on black and latinx communities in metro-Pittsburgh), Ford Foundation, and Templeton Foundation and has totaled almost $2.5 million in grant monies. He has served since 2010 as co-convener of the Transatlantic Roundtable on Religion and Race, an initiative that convenes scholars, religious leaders, and community activists from across the transatlantic region for purposes of advancing progressive approaches to persistent racial problems in various contexts. In addition, as a Baptist clergyman, he has ministered in a number of parish, prison, and campus ministry contexts. Beyond serving as professor of urban ministry, Smith is also director of the Seminary's Metro-Urban Institute. He has published widely on religion and public life, having written numerous articles and chapters, and edited or co-edited 10 books, including Racialized Health, COVID-19, and Religious Responses: Black Atlantic Contexts and Perspectives (2022), Urban Ministry Reconsidered: Contexts and Approaches (2018), and Religion, Culture, and Spirituality in Africa and the African Diaspora (2017).
ABOUT HENRY L. HILLMAN
Henry and Elsie Hillman were known throughout Pittsburgh and the nation as leaders and philanthropists. Mr. Hillman was a graduate of Princeton University. Founder of The Hillman Company and Hillman Foundation, Mr. Hillman served as a director for a number of corporations throughout the country, in addition to his philanthropic pursuits. Mrs. Hillman was also a nationally recognized philanthropist. The Pittsburgh community, in particular, has been enriched many times by the Hillmans’ sensitivity to its needs. They were members of Calvary Episcopal Church. In 2005 the Hillmans were given the John Anderson Award of Merit, the highest honor bestowed by Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, in recognition of their service and contributions to the Seminary community. In 1998 the Rev. Dr. Ronald E. Peters was installed to the chair as its first occupant.