Calendar of Events

Fall Convocation
Thursday, October 16, 2008
5:30 PM
Location: General Theological Seminary, New York, NY

During the service of Evensong and Convocation on Thursday, October 16 at 5:30 pm The General Theological Seminary, the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church, will award its Doctor of Divinity degree, honoris causa, to the Rt. Rev. Dan Thomas Edwards, Ms. Dorothy Virginia Granada, the Very Rev. Douglas Travis, and the Rev. Canon William L. Wipfler. The degrees will be conferred by the Very Rev. Ward B. Ewing, Dean and President. The preacher for the service will be the Rev. Dr. Daniel Paul Matthews, rector emeritus of Trinity Church, Wall Street in New York City.

The Rt. Rev. Dan Thomas Edwards is the 10th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada. Bishop Edwards was consecrated on January 5, 2008. Raised in Texas, he practiced as an attorney in Idaho and Colorado, served as regional director of a migrant law program, and later became statewide director of a Native American law program. He was previously rector of St. Francis Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Atlanta. At St. Francis', Bishop Edwards promoted servant leadership, Millennium Development Goals, and racial reconciliation. An advocate for ministry development, he co-directed a diocesan program to train spiritual directors, taught in St. Luke's (Atlanta) Pastoral Institute, and supervised aspirants in field placements. A former college chaplain, he has led retreats for church and college groups. Bishop Edwards holds the M.Div. and S.T.M. degrees from General and also studied at Columbia Seminary and Harvard Divinity School.

Dorothy Virginia Granada, a native of Los Angeles, is Coordinator of Health Services at the Maria Luisa Ortiz Women´s Cooperative in Mulukuku, RAAN, Nicaragua. She was the first Chicana to be admitted to the nursing school of the Good Samaritan Hospital Los Angeles and in 1954 received a diploma in nursing and a Bachelor of Science from Los Angeles State College. Her nursing career has included administrative and teaching positions at St. Luke's Hospital in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Brigham Hospital in Boston, and the University of Chicago Hospitals. In 1985, she joined Witness for Peace in Nicaragua as a long-term volunteer and became aware of the need for women-directed reproductive health services for women and girls in the countryside. In March of 1990 she was invited by the Maria Luisa Ortiz Women's Cooperative in Mulukuku to assist in establishing a women's health clinic. In 1997 she was awarded the Pfeffer Peace Prize and has received numerous other awards for her humanitarian efforts in Nicaragua.

The Very Rev. Douglas Travis became Dean and President of the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in June of 2007. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Dean Travis’ academic interests focus on Christian formation, spirituality and leadership. He came to the deanship after being rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in The Woodlands, Texas. Prior to that he served three parishes in the Diocese of Dallas, where he was also the Dean of the Anglican School of Theology. A former fellow and lecturer at GTS, Dean Travis earned his B.A. from Trinity University and holds theological degrees from McCormick Theological Seminary, University of Chicago Divinity School, General Theological Seminary, and a D.Min. from Perkins School of Theology.

The Rev. Canon William L. Wipfler is the former director of the Latin American Department of the National Council of Churches. During his 25-year ministry with the NCC, he was a strong advocate for justice and a leader in the movement to end torture and repression throughout Latin America. Canon Wipfler also served as Deputy to the Executive for World Mission at the Episcopal Church Center and Associate for Human Rights of the Anglican Office at the United Nations. He earned his B.A. at Adelphi University, S.T.B. at General Seminary, and S.T.M, M.Phil., and Ph.D. degrees at Union Theological Seminary. In 2006 Canon Wipfler celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.

The General Theological Seminary conferred its first honorary degree in 1885. The stately ceremony of Convocation, devised during this period of the Seminary's history, continues to be used today with few changes.