Head and shoulders image of Dr. Faith Rohrbough, President, Lutheran Theological Seminary.

Bio/Historical Note: Image appeared in 4 Oct. 2002 issue of OCN.

Bio/Historical Note: Rev. Dr. Faith Elizabeth Rohrbough grew up Methodist in an Illinois university town. Her family and ancestral heritage encouraged her to assume that women could accomplish far more than societal roles assigned them. After studying under an all-female faculty at Wellesley College near Boston, Rev. Dr. Rohrbough took her DPhil in Basel, Switzerland (including study under Karl Barth) where she focused on church and state relations. In the mid 1970s she taught part-time at St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore and at Lutheran Seminary, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, before joining faculty at Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. A year later she was elected Dean of the seminary. She also served as Vice-President and held the Anna Burkhalter chair in the History of Christianity. In 1996 Rev. Dr. Rohrbough emigrated to Canada to accept the Presidency of Lutheran Theological Seminary (LTS) in Saskatoon, where she served until her retirement in 2004. She has continued to serve LTS in many ways, including as Acting Dean in 2011-12. Rev. Dr. Rohrbough pioneered three “firsts” in women’s leadership. She was the first female dean, first female vice-president, and first female president of a Lutheran School in North America. She deepened that experience with professional development at Bryn Mawr Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration (Pennsylvania) and has used her expertise to provide encouragement and training for women in theological administration across the world. Rev. Dr. Rohrbough facilitated development of an Urban Theological Institute in Philadelphia, enabling inner-city African Americans to take master’s level studies. She served on ecumenical and international initiatives with the Lutheran World Federation, the Lutheran Coalition on South Africa, and Lutheran-Seventh Day Adventist dialogues. Rev. Dr. Rohrbough has visited over three dozen countries, encouraging international students to study at LTS. She has made substantial contributions to theological schools in North America through long-term work with the international accrediting body, ATS. Rev. Dr. Rohrbough has been awarded honourary doctorates from Capital University, Columbus, Ohio; and LTS Philadelphia; and the President’s Medal from Andrews University, Missouri. LTS Saskatoon awarded her an honourary Doctor of Divinity degree in May 2021. She is currently President Emerita of Lutheran Theological Seminary.