Princeton Theological Seminary Inaugurates Its Sixth President

Stuart Mitchner

The Rev. Dr. Iain Torrance was inaugurated Friday as the Princeton Theological Seminary's sixth president since its founding in 1812.

A native of Scotland, Dr. Torrance, 56, was first installed as president in July 2004 after his predecessor, Dr. Thomas Gillespie, retired on June 30, 2004. With his inauguration, the new president officially heads up the first seminary founded by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA and the largest of the ten theological seminaries of that 2.5 million-member denomination.

Besides looking forward to discussing "many issues facing contemporary Christians" while helping the Seminary continue to demonstrate "the relevance of the church in America's history and culture," Dr. Torrance said he also hopes to help lead "the interfaith dialogue among the world's major religions" which is "imperative to fostering an atmosphere of peace and stability among the nations.

"I believe an institution such as Princeton Theological Seminary can provide a venue for productive research and conversation in the relationships among Christians, Jews, and Muslims."

Dr. Torrance's inauguration featured more than 64 delegates from institutions of higher education, including the four ancient universities of Scotland ‹ Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow, and St. Andrews ‹ as well as the Chapel Royal in Scotland, Yale University Divinity School. Duke University, and Howard University School of Divinity.

Twelve ecclesiastical delegates including Rick Ufford-Chase, the moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Rev. Nigel Robb, director of educational services for the Church of Scotland, also attended. The service highlighted "Christ is the World's Redeemer," a hymn written by John Ferguson and commissioned by the Seminary for the inauguration.

In 2001 Dr. Torrance was appointed a chaplain-in-ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen in Scotland. He has served as president of the Aberdeen Association of University Teachers and was convenor of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland's Committee on Chaplains to the Forces (1998-2001). He is a member of the international dialogue between the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Orthodox Church. He completed his term as moderator of the Church of Scotland in May 2004. As moderator, he made a trip to Iraq, where he visited with not only British but American troops.

Born in Aberdeen in 1949, Mr. Torrance received the master's degree in art from the University of Edinburgh, the Bachelor of Divinity degree from St. Andrew's University, and the Doctor of Philosophy from Oriel College, Oxford University.

A minister in the Church of Scotland, the mother church of the Presbyterian Church USA, the new seminary president served the parish of Northmavine in the Shetland Islands for three years prior to becoming lecturer at Queen's Theological College, Birmingham, in 1985. He then moved to the University of Aberdeen and was named dean of the Faculty of Arts and Divinity in 2001.

Dr. Torrance is the author of Christology after Chalcedon and Ethics and the Military Community, co-editor of Human Genetics: A Christian Perspective and To Glorify God: Essays on Modern Reformed Liturgy, and editor of Bioethics for the New Millennium.

He served as a Territorial Army Chaplain (1982-1987) and Army Cadet Force Chaplain (1996-2000), and was awarded the Territorial Decoration (TDF) by Her Majesty the Queen in 1997.

Dr. Torrance's wife, Morag Ann, was manager of the information technology training unit at the University of Aberdeen. They have a son, Hew, and a daughter, Robyn.

As president. Dr. Torrance will oversee a student body of 785 and a faculty of 53.

The new president succeeds Dr. Gillespie, 76, who had served as the seminary's president from 1983 to 2004. A native of California, Dr. Gillespie graduated from the seminary in 1954. Dr. Gillespie announced his intention to retire in 2003.