From February 3 through 7, a Conference and Exhibits took place marking the Centenary anniversary of UTS Founder the late Dr. Sun Myung Moon and the seventy-birthday of his spouse and UTS Co-Founder Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon. The program brought together 2,700 religious, political, business, and academic leaders including current Heads of State and Government, Nobel Laureates, and some of the world’s most successful business entrepreneurs. Dr. Thomas J. Ward, UTS President and Professor, as well as Dr. Andrew Wilson, Professor of Scriptural Studies, and Dr. Drissa Kone, Assistant Professor of...

UTS Academic Dean Keisuke Noda organized a special seminar on faculty publishing on January 24, 2020. It drew the participation of both full-time faculty and one recent graduate. The featured speaker at the program was Dr. Jack Seymour, Professor Emeritus of Religious Education at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. Dr. Seymour served for eleven year as Executive Editor of the Journal of Religious Education and he also served as one of the editors of the Religious Education Association’s Book Series on “Horizons in Religious Education.” Dr. Seymour encouraged...

In January 2020 Unification Theological Seminary was accepted as a member of the Theta Alpha Kappa (TAK) national honor society for students of Religious Studies. It is the only national honor society dedicated to recognizing academic excellence in baccalaureate and post-baccalaureate students and in scholars in the fields of Religious Studies and Theology. Theta Alpha Kappa website points out that it is “a related scholarly organization of the American Academy of Religion, an affiliated program of the Society of Biblical Literature and is a member of the Association of College Honor...

Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, the Co-Founder of the Unification Theological Seminary will be visiting the New York area in December and will deliver a special year-end message to religious leaders at the Prudential Convention Center in Newark, New Jersey on December 28, 2019. The event will also mark the opening of the World Clergy Leadership Conference. An estimated 30,000 clergy and religious leaders will participate. Dr. Moon has been speaking in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and now the United States over the past few months. She is emphasizing the key role that must be played by...

There has been a growing movement among Korean-American civic organizations to condemn Japan’s comfort women system of World War II—but discerning an appropriate American response has proven difficult. Dr. Thomas Ward, president of the Unification Theological Seminary (UTS), addressed this controversial issue on November 5, 2019 in his inaugural presentation for the UTS Faculty Roundtable Series: “Fanning the Flames: The Role of Local U.S. Governments in Undermining Korea-Japan Relations.” Tens of thousands of women were conscripted as “comfort women” during the course of the war. These...

The Board of Trustees of the Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) voted on Monday, October 14, 2019 to name Dr. Hugh Spurgin President Emeritus. This honor comes in recognition of his distinguished leadership and service during his tenure as the fifth UTS President from January 2015 to August 2019. Dr. Hugh Spurgin, a graduate of the first UTS class in 1977, took the reins of UTS at a difficult time and successfully navigated the institution to a new level. Under his tenure, UTS observed the 40th year of its founding, reaffirmed its regional accreditation by the Middle States...

The Board of Trustees of the Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) voted on Monday, October 14, 2019 to name Dr. Tyler Owen Hendricks President Emeritus. This honor comes in recognition of over ten years of distinguished leadership and service to the Seminary between 2000 and 2010 as its President. Dr. Hendricks (UTS class of 1978) served as the third president of the Unification Theological Seminary. Under Dr. Hendrick’s leadership, UTS gave new emphasis to strengthening professional skills for ministry and established the midtown Manhattan campus, with an interdenominational faculty...

The day was October 26, 2019, Saturday, that all the students from the Unification Theological Seminary were invited to attend a full-day retreat at its original Barrytown Campus in upstate New York. The two-hour drive from the NY main seminary to Barrytown is beautiful this time of the year, where trees whose leaves were gracefully swaying in an ensemble of colorful shades of mustard yellow, pink, fading greens and brownish hues, dancing playfully as if bowing to its final performance before exiting to its slumber. Inside the car, three middle-aged Theology students and a doting...

The Board of Trustees of the Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) voted on Monday, October 14, 2019 to name Dr. Theodore Shimmyo President Emeritus. Dr. Shimmyo was one of three former presidents conferred this status at the Board of Trustees meeting. This honor comes in recognition of Dr. Shimmyo’s years of distinguished leadership and service as the second president of UTS from 1994-2000. The themes of his administration were leadership development and the attitude of faithful attendance to God. Under his leadership, UTS strengthened its field education program by instituting...