Alumni Profiles

Mel Kawakami embracing worshippers

Hope in Darkness

October 1, 2020
The Rev. Mel Kawakami, MDiv '74, ThM '85, is a retired pastor and pastoral counselor for the United Methodist Church. He spent his career helping communities devastated by unexpected loss, including his tenure as pastor of the Newtown United Methodist Church in the heart of Sandy Hook, Connecticut.
Abel Rodriguez

Seeking Justice for Migrants

April 16, 2020

The day that Abel Rodriguez won his first asylum case was the best of his career as an immigration attorney. He was overjoyed and his work seemed full of meaning after accompanying his client through a process that was long and stressful but ultimately successful. Then he did the math.

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Milia Islam

To Go Beyond Fear

April 16, 2020

2020 Peter J. Gomes, STB ’68 Distinguished Alumni Honoree Milia Islam, MTS ’04, was eight years old when her family moved to the United States from Bangladesh, settling eventually in Fulton, MO. The small town was overwhelmingly white and very conservative. The Islams were the only Muslims and among only a handful of people of color.

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Dr. Ephraim Isaac

Father of Peace

April 16, 2020

Recognized this year as a Peter J. Gomes, STB ’68 Distinguished Alumni Honoree, Ephraim Isaac’s sixty-year career includes an almost absurd number of achievements.

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Israel Buffardi, MDiv '19

HDS Grad Finds His Community in Ministry

June 27, 2019
“It’s rare for a divinity school to have such a diverse group of people,” says Israel Buffardi, MDiv '19, of HDS. “[It allows for] building community with all different types of people and finding connections with each other and the values in their lives.”
Zoltan and Nedelman

'Not Sorry' for Bringing New Meaning to Beloved Books

April 18, 2019

Vanessa Zoltan is not sorry for co-founding a podcast that treats J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books as sacred texts. She’s not sorry for her new show, “Hot and Bothered,” which encourages listeners to write and find meaning in romance novels. Most of all, she’s the founder and CEO of Not Sorry Productions, the feminist production company that creates these shows.... Read more about 'Not Sorry' for Bringing New Meaning to Beloved Books

Derek van Bever

Ministry of Management Education

December 5, 2018

As the director of Harvard Business School’s Forum for Growth and Innovation and senior lecturer of business administration, Derek van Bever, MBA ’88, MDiv ’11, makes management education his ministry. In so doing, he draws on his HDS experience and challenges future business leaders to evaluate their actions—and the actions of the organizations they lead—through a rigorous ethical framework.... Read more about Ministry of Management Education

Gomes Honoree Jalane Schmidt. Photo handout.

To Fight the Alt-Right

April 9, 2018

Jalane Schmidt could hear the chants across the street from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Charlottesville, Virginia on the night of August 11, 2017. “Blood and soil!” the torch-bearing marchers shouted as they gathered in front of a statue of Thomas Jefferson. “You will not replace us!”... Read more about To Fight the Alt-Right

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