Alumni News
A Sermon By Howard-John Wesley (STH’97) About What We See and Don’t See When We Look For Jesus
This sermon was originally published in focus magazine, the annual scholarly publication of the BU School of Theology, in May 2023. The full magazine is available here and this sermon can be found on page 42.
Stop Staring
By Howard-John Wesley
As we contemplate what it means to be stewards of this season, not only in the kingdom of Christ and the church, we realize that we are in the midst of both problematic and opportunistic times. I can’t help but hear the words of Mordecai that he whispered to Esther: You’ve come to the kingdom “for such a time as this.”And God has seen fit to call us to leadership in the body of Christ for such a time as this, a time when our nation, our world, and even the body of Christ is more divided than it has ever been. Racially, politically, financially, scientifically, sexually, and even in our understanding, use, and interpretation of the Bible. We are splintered in many ways. Add to that the stress of leadership, exacerbated by the conditions of the pandemic, and the anxiety of not knowing what church is going to look like going forward, and I can say without fear of contradiction that we are in need of a mountain of healing.
We’re given a clear vision of what that mountain of healing looks like through the pen of the prophet Isaiah, where we see God’s call to conversion and transformation in Isaiah 2. But what really garners and grabs my attention is not just the call to conversion, but even more so the call to come and be instructed on how to make God’s vision a reality. The prophet Isaiah calls us to the mountain of healing that we might hear from the Lord how to institute and maintain the vision that God has shown him. What’s interesting is that Isaiah gives the call, but he does not share the syllabus. There’s no recipe. There are no instructions about how to transform and convert society. And yet, I believe that there’s a little bit of that instruction found in another passage of scripture that I want to partner and parallel with what the prophet Isaiah declares in chapter two: Acts 1:9.
The events recorded in Acts 1 by the same author of the Gospel of Luke paint a glorious scene, setting, and scenario. Jesus has been crucified, but by the glory of God, he has been resurrected from the dead. And his disciples, soon-to-be-named apostles, who were not witness to the resurrection, had been witness for 40 days to the resurrected Jesus. They have walked with him and talked with him. And now, after these almost seven weeks, Jesus has let them know that he’s about to ascend back into heaven.That’s a little bit of bad news, but the sweet news is that Jesus has given them the promise that the Holy Spirit is coming, and with the Holy Spirit will come power to be witnesses in Judea and Samaria, and even all the way to the end of the earth. And so here they are gathered on this day. And they’re watching Christ ascend on a cloud back to heaven.
I want you to envision the splendor of this moment: the resurrected Christ ascending on a cloud and the coming of the Holy Spirit. And if the Christ wasn’t enough, if the clouds weren’t enough, if the coming of the Holy Spirit was not enough, all of a sudden, two angels show up. I want to make certain you see the glory of this moment. Angels have shown up. Christ is ascending. The clouds are gathering. The Holy Spirit is coming. This is God at God’s best; this is a glorious sight.This is something to behold. If I were there—if I were Peter, if I were Matthew—I would have said, “Now this is why I joined. This is why I follow Jesus. Look at the glorious moment we are in. Christ is ascending, the clouds are gathering, the Holy Spirit is coming, and we’ve got angels all around.” It is no wonder why these disciples, soon to be apostles, are staring at a glorious sight.
“Every now and then we have to be reminded that none of us sees God perfectly clearly. That in our humanity and
in our sinfulness and in the frailty of our flesh, we all suffer with blurred vision when it comes to how we see God.”
Likewise, beloved, I would suggest to you that the vision Isaiah paints for us in chapter two is equally worthy of captivating our attention. Isaiah paints the possibilities of what happens when God is in control. Disputes and divisions are settled.Weapons are transformed into tools that feed the hungry. Wars have ceased, justice is abounding, and compassion is common. The imago Dei of all humanity is recognized and respected, and love prevails between brothers and sisters. A vision of me not having to be worried about my unarmed Black sons being killed by police officers. A vision of your daughters being paid equal pay for equal work. A vision of a land where white supremacy is a long-gone memory and voting rights are secured for all citizens. A vision of a land where capitalism does not demand colonization nor the denial of communal responsibility. A land where the pandemic is over, the virus has been defeated. And churches are filled from wall to wall with people who, over the last few years, have realized how very much they need Jesus in their lives. That is a vision worth staring at. That’s something that ought to fixate our focus. That’s something that ought to grab our attention. And like those apostles, maybe we’re staring at this great vision of healing that Isaiah presents. Here they are staring at Christ, the clouds, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the angels show up. And the angels reprove and reprimand them for staring. The angels come, and they ask the question,“Why are you staring into the sky?”
Why does the Lord reprove them? Why do the angels tell them to stop staring? Let me throw a few ideas out there for consideration and discussion. Could it be, first of all, that the angels tell these disciples, these soon-to-be apostles, to stop staring because we want you to see someone else? Why are they staring? Because they want to see Jesus. And beloved, there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s why we do church, to see Jesus. That’s why we build sanctuaries, to see Jesus. That’s why we sing praise and worship and hymns of rejoicing, to see Jesus. That’s why we wear robes and collars so that they won’t see us, but maybe they might see Jesus. That’s why we have Sunday school—to teach children and adults how to see Jesus. That’s why we build ministries and have missions around the globe, so that the world might come to see Jesus. There’s nothing wrong with staring to see Jesus. But there’s some good news and some bad news.
The bad news is this: they’re staring to see Jesus. The Bible says in Acts 1:9, that a cloud has hidden him from their sight. Jesus is ascending into the clouds and the clouds are hiding their clear vision of Jesus. They’re staring at what they cannot clearly see. All they’re getting are glimpses of glory, moments of majesty, and snapshots of splendor. They’re staring, but they can’t see well. And every now and then we have to be reminded that none of us sees God perfectly clearly. That in our humanity and in our sinfulness and in the frailty of our flesh, we all suffer with blurred vision when it comes to how we see God. I know you may disagree with me on this, but that’s all right. I’ve lived long enough to tell you that the most dangerous Christians in the world are the ones who have God all figured out. The ones who swear that they see God better than anyone else sees God. The ones who believe that their theology is always right. The ones who think they have a PhD in God, and they have forgotten that all of us struggle and suffer with blurred vision when it comes to the things of the Lord. That’s why the same prophet that reminds us of the mountain of healing in Isaiah reminds us that as the heavens are above the earth, so are God’s ways above our ways. It is Job, in his arrogance, who demands to hear from God and is encountered by a God who asks him questions he cannot answer to remind Job, “You don’t know everything about God.” It is Paul who reminds us that we see through a glass darkly and that we are called to be stewards of the mysteries of God, not the certainties of God, not the absolutes of God, but the mysteries of God. And this same Jesus who is ascending in the clouds has just spoken to these apostles who have asked him, “Will you now restore to us the kingdom of Israel?” And Jesus’ answer is that there are some things you are not given the ability to know. There are some things you will never understand. There are some things about the ways of God that escape your human understanding. And every now and then you need to be humbled and reminded that you’ve got blurred vision when it comes to the things of God.
“I don’t care what seminary you went to. I don’t care how convicted you are about what you think you know of the Lord, life will put us in some places where our signal is not clear, where our theology is not perfect, where our understanding is not on point.”
A little while ago,I had to go get a new iPhone. I walked into the Apple store and the lady convinced me to get an iPhone 13. She told me how wonderful the phone was. How great the camera, memory, and the functionality were—and all the apps it had. So, I bought the new iPhone because I was convinced it was the greatest phone in the history of humanity. I’m on that phone the other day, and while I’m driving around, I lose a signal. I call out again and I’ve lost the signal. I’m in what’s called a dead spot. And I realize no matter how phenomenal the phone is, that sometimes in our travels, we reach dead spots where the signal is not working. It doesn’t matter how fabulous the phone is, in your journey, inevitably you will come to some places where the signal is not strong, where you cannot hear as clearly as you thought, that it is not as powerful as you thought it was. Every now and then we’ve got to remember that we’ve got some dead spots. I don’t care how big your Bible is. I don’t care what seminary you went to. I don’t care how convicted you are about what you think you know of the Lord, life will put us in some places where our signal is not clear, where our theology is not perfect, where our understanding is not on point. We have to acknowledge our dead spots.
They want to see Jesus. There’s nothing wrong with that, other than the realization that we don’t always see clearly. The bad news is that we don’t always see God the way we want. But here’s the good news. Jesus has given them some instruction on how they can see him clearly. Jesus has taught these disciples how to see him clearly in the world. Not hidden behind the cloud, not ascending into heaven. But Jesus says, “Here’s how you can see me. You ready? When you come across someone who’s hungry, you’ve seen me. When you come across someone who’s sick, you’ve seen me.When you come across an immigrant, you’ve seen me. When you come across a refugee, you’ve seen me. When you come across someone HIV positive, you’ve seen me. When you’ve come across the incarcerated, you’ve seen me.” Beloved, the clearest view of Jesus is not granted by us staring in the sanctuary, but rather by us serving in the streets. And that’s why these angels come and say,“Stop staring”—because what you see up there is confusing, but if you want to see the Lord clearly, he’s not just in the Bible. He’s in that brother with the substance abuse problem. He’s not just in the hymnal. He’s in that family that’s in the homeless shelter. He’s not just in the scriptures. He’s in the struggle of that single mother. We see Christ most clearly not when we stare in the sanctuary, but when we go out into the world and meet those who’ve been hit by disaster. We see Christ most clearly when we see those dealing with food insecurity, or minister to the immigrant and the refugees and the victims of sexual trafficking and domestic violence and abuse. Are we staring at what we cannot see and missing where we can see Christ most clearly?
About the Author
Howard-John Wesley (‘97) is senior pastor of the 10,000-member Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Va., and only the eighth pastor in the congregation’s 219-year history. Wesley received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Theology in 2022.
Reverend Vernon T. Sarver Jr. (STH ’71)
This obituary was originally posted by Hodges Family Funeral Home and can be found here.
Vernon “Bunny” Thomas Sarver, Jr. 1943-2023, of Ridge Manor, FL, died on Wednesday, May 31. He was 79. He is preceded in death by his beloved wife of 39 years, Mary Duran Sarver. He is also preceded by his father, Vernon Thomas Sarver, Sr., and his mother, Dorothea Ellis Sarver. He is survived by his daughters, Anne Marie Januario of Lutz, FL, and Laura-Edythe Sarver Coleman of Philadelphia, PA; and grandchildren Daniel, Ezekiel, Zachariah, Ezra, Mateus, and Kaio. He is also survived by his sister and brother Viki Bower of Gulf Breeze, FL, and Thomas Sarver of Raleigh, NC, respectively.
Vernon received his bachelor’s degree from Florida State University, Tallahassee in 1966. He earned a Master of Divinity, Tufts University, 1969; Master of Sacred Theology, Boston University, 1971; Master of Arts in Philosophy, Ohio State University, 1976. In 1994, he was awarded the degree, Doctor of Philosophy, from the University of Florida, Gainesville. Throughout his life, he was a competitive chess player, registered as a Life Certified Expert with the United States Chess Federation. He was a member of the American Philosophical Association and delighted in philosophy, classical writings in Greek such as Aristotle, Plato, and Homer. In his later years, he further developed his love of mathematics, publishing his “Heronian Proofs of The Pythagorean Theorem” in The Alabama Journal of Mathematics (2004).
Over the course of his professional career, he was a dedicated educator, researcher, and author. He was a retired public-school teacher, whose career spanned nearly four decades and concluded as a teacher of gifted, at Marion County Schools, Ocala, Florida, where he taught for 24 years. He was an Adjunct instructor at Florida Junior College, Jacksonville, 1979-1981, Lake City (Florida) Community College, 1981-1983, St. Leo College, Ocala, Florida, 1994-2000, and the University of South Florida, Lakeland, 2009-2010. Most recently, he was a Fellow in the Center for Social and Political Thought at the University of South Florida, 2001-2022. His principal area of research in recent years has been in the milieu of social contract theory and the legal abolition of the death penalty, with articles on Hobbes, Locke, and Kant appearing in the Journal of Philosophical Research, the British Journal of American Legal Studies, and the Journal of Value Inquiry, respectively. He spent the majority of his adult life contributing to the abolition of the death penalty, providing the philosophical and rational basis for a change within our society. His final article on the topic, “Abolishing the Death Penalty: An Untested Legal Argument” was published in The American Journal of Criminal Justice (2014). He was, as his departed wife would say, part of “the fabric of society.”
He will be laid to rest next to his wife in the Garden of the Prophets, Chapel Hill Gardens.
Prof. Nicolette Manglos-Weber Published in The Conversation
The following is an excerpt from the article “US talks sanctions against Uganda after a harsh anti-gay law – but criminalizing same-sex activities has become a political tactic globally” by Associate Professor of Religion and Society Nicolette Manglos-Weber, published on June 22, 2023 by The Conversation US. Click here to read the full article.
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As a scholar of politics and religion in the region, I have been working with Ugandan community activists and NGO leaders since 2017. These leaders express growing concerns about state corruption and abuse of civil rights.
Leaders pushing anti-LGBTQ+ laws claim to be protecting their citizens from foreign cultural threats, but the 2023 law is better understood as a political tactic to retain power by distracting the public from failures of governance. I argue that it is an example of what sociologists call a moral panic, and part of a worrying global trend.
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Brandon Crowley (STH’19) featured on WBZ CBS News Boston for Pride Month
The following is an excerpt from CBS News Boston’s article and video “Gay pastor of Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton seeks to open minds” by Brandon Truitt, published on June 15, 2023, featuring BUSTH alumnus and fall 2023 adjunct professor Brandon Crowley (STH'19).
From his earliest memories, Brandon Thomas Crowley said two things were clear: He wanted to preach the word of God, and he was gay.
At 37, Pastor Crowley leads the historic Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton. The congregation has grown during his tenure since joining in 2009. The Morehouse College graduate went to Harvard Divinity School before grabbing a doctorate at Boston University. It's a near perfect match of a path to one of his role models, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Crowley has a picture of Dr. King displayed in his office behind his desk.
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Dr. Peter E. Roussakis (STH ’91)
This obituary was originally posted by Shirley & Stout Funeral Home and can be found here.
Peter Ellwood Roussakis died peacefully in his home in Kokomo at 3:00 a.m. on December 30, 2020, surrounded by loved ones. He was born October 16, 1946, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Charles and Dorothy (Ferguson) Roussakis. He married Phyllis Ann (Berkshire) Roussakis on October 31, 1970.
Peter was an ordained pastor in The Brethren Church (Ashland, Ohio) and had served in ministry since 1971, holding positions as a minister of music and education, a professor of church music and Christian education, and for the past 30 years, as a pastor. He devoted his life to faithfully communicating the truths of God’s word through teaching, preaching, and music. He served as pastor in Alton, New Hampshire and later at the Burlington First Brethren Church for twelve years. He also served as a professor at Southwestern University, in Georgetown, Texas.
He is survived by his wife of 50 years and their two sons, Peter Alex Roussakis (Sarah), Hickory Corners, Michigan, and Jesse Aaron Roussakis (Elizabeth) West Chester, Pennsylvania; and grandchildren, Clayton, Emmett, Eliza, Amelia Roussakis, Claire, Joshua, and Cody Roussakis.
Celebration of Life: Dr. Judith Oleson
By Thomas W. Porter, Jr., retired Lecturer and Co-Director, Program on Religion and Conflict Transformation
I would like to begin with our good fortune to hire Dr. Judith Oleson as Co-Director of the Religion and Conflict Transformation (RCT) Program in September 2016. Judith had recently left a tenured faculty position at Gordon College, where she founded the Peace and Conflict Studies Program. While you might know a few things about tenure and what it means to leave such a position, the key is why she left. She left over the College’s policies regarding LGBTQ-identifying students, which indicates Judith’s ethical principles and strength in her personal convictions.
As many of you know—and some have pointed out to me—I am not a researcher. But Judith was. She developed a research component to our Program, where she taught courses in Research Methods, while she undertook significant research projects herself. For her dissertation, she studied reconciliation processes in South Africa, Israel, Palestine, Egypt and the US, identifying key characteristics and skills needed for leaders to facilitate reconciliation. She brought together five remarkable Research Fellows who added much to the life of the Program. What a gift it was to work with Judith. I can’t imagine a more collaborative partner. I think it is remarkable that together, in a short period of time, we created two online courses, one a Doctor of Ministry (DMin) course and the other a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC).
Judith was a wonderful mentor of students. At Gordon College, she directed the Field Practicum Program, and at Boston University, she worked closely with students who were participating in practicums related to our clinic program, including leading twice-monthly seminars. She started a monthly Circle for students in the RCT program to provide support and build community, as well as create opportunities for self-reflection, spiritual practices, and learning the circle methodology.
Regarding the practicums, Judith developed strong partnerships with different organizations working on different aspects of conflict transformation. She partnered with Hebrew College to collaborate regarding learning across faiths, a research focus of hers.
Judith developed a course entitled Transitional Justice and Reconciliation: Healing Collective Wounds. This class drew on her long experience of working with students in the Balkans as well as her work with Native American Indians in Maine and First Nation Peoples in Canada. With her colleagues at the European Center for the Study of War and Peace in Croatia, Judith developed a course in post-conflict social reconstruction, and continued to work with to build a travel seminar to the Balkans.
For all her academic achievements, I was also so impressed with how Judith and her husband Mark provided extended hospitality for Peace and Justice workers, artists, and others visiting beautiful Cape Ann, which was first settled by Judith’s own ancestors.
And yet, the most impressive thing about Judith was how she dealt with cancer. Through the debilitating therapies, she continued working, and I never heard her complain. She worked as long as humanly possible; grieved to leave the work she loved.
The death of Judith Oleson is a great personal loss to me, and to all those who care about peace and justice.
Thank you, Judith, for all the good times we had working together. And thank you for your friendship.
Background photo: Taken by Dr. Oleson, this photo was originally shared with the BUSTH community in summer 2018.
Remembering Judith Oleson
The Boston University School of Theology announces the passing of retired Director of The Tom Porter Religion and Conflict Transformation Program Judith Oleson. Prof. Oleson passed away on Saturday, June 10, 2023 in the presence of her loved ones after an extended illness. Prof. Oleson served at the School from 2016 through her retirement in 2022, and was a beloved mentor to students in the religion and conflict transformation program.
“The death of Judith Oleson is a great personal loss to me and to all who care about peace and justice,” says Tom Porter, retired School of Theology lecturer and co-director of the religion and conflict Transformation program. “The way she dealt with her cancer speaks volumes about her. Through debilitating therapies, she continued working and never complained. She worked as long a humanly possible, grieved by having to leave the work she loved. What a gift to work with Judith—principled, collaborative, excellent researcher, wonderful mentor, creator of partnerships, leader of travel seminars—even making her home a place of hospitality for peace and justice workers, and my friend.”
Gifts in Judith’s memory can be made to the Tom Porter Program of Religion & Conflict Transformation Endowment Fund. Flowers can also be sent to the family or a tree can be planted in her memory.
Executive Assistant to the Campus Dean, Full-Time: Roxbury, MA
Gordon-Conwell is a multidenominational, protestant graduate school, unique with its broad array of over 1,300 students and 200 faculty and staff from 78 denominations and over 50 countries. We offer a residential model of education at South Hamilton, MA (our main campus); an urban context in Boston, MA; adult educational models in both our Charlotte, NC campus and our offerings in Jacksonville, FL; in addition to online and cohort models involving students from around the world.
Our mission is to prepare men and women for ministry at home and abroad. Rooted in the gospel and God’s Word, the seminary seeks to develop Christian leaders who are thoughtful, globally aware, spiritually mature, and ready for a broad array of ministries. While being historically orthodox and evangelical, we seek to address the issues of our times with both relevance to the culture and faithfulness to Christ and God’s truthful Word.
Title: Executive Assistant to the Campus Dean
Location: Roxbury, MA
Salary: $48,000-$52,000 annually
Position Summary
The Executive Assistant to the Campus Dean supports the office of the Dean on the Campus for Urban Ministerial Education (CUME). The Executive Assistant will act as liaison with internal colleagues and external partners. They will be responsible for monitoring, executing, providing communication and documentation of the multi-varied functions of the office, and other necessary tasks associated with the daily operation of the Campus. Like all positions throughout the Campus, the Executive Assistant to the Campus Dean is an important component of the cohesive team of students, faculty and staff serving the ministerial educational and research mission of the Campus and community. This is a full-time position.
Key Responsibilities
• Meetings & Calendars: Communicates, schedules, and coordinates all aspects (e.g., calls, mails, emails, supporting documents, reservations, expenses, hospitality, etc.) of Dean’s office and interoffice activities. (20%)
• Communications: Crafts and delivers consistently high quality written and oral communications for meetings (i.e., minutes, reports, supporting documents, etc.); staffing (i.e., staff and faculty CV’s, adjunct contracts, etc.); governance (i.e., rules, policies, guidelines, etc.) and research overseen by the Campus Dean. (30%)
• Grant Administration: Maintains communications, provides event planning, and oversees administrative components of Thriving Congregations – CUME Lily Grant. (20%)
• Administrative Support: Oversee administrative details to coordinate, communicate and connect staff and faculty on behalf of Dean to ensure successful operations. (5%)
• Budget & Expenses: Completes timely and accurate expense reports of the Campus Dean’s office; manages documentation and pay requests of the adjunct faculty stipend. (10%)
• Community Liaison: Acts as community liaison to churches, non-profits, businesses, etc. on behalf of the Dean’s office. (5%)
• Event Coordination: Provides project management and event planning for Dean’s office. (10%)
• Perform other duties as assigned by Dean.
Key Competencies
• Administrative Support: Superior administrative skills, including organizational and coordination skills. Must be detailed oriented, self-motivated, and possess the ability to take initiative and work independently. Must possess superior time management skills. Basic accounting skills preferred.
• Communication and Interpersonal Effectiveness: Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience in research, reporting, writing, and editing.
• Cultural Intelligence: Demonstrated commitment to cultural diversity and ability to work with individuals or groups with diverse backgrounds. Demonstrated ability to adapt, collaborate, and serve in a team environment that requires collegiality and regular collaboration across matrixed, multi-campus environment.
• Technical Knowledge: Experience with Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Acrobat, plus an aptitude to learn and use other applications that facilitate organizational efficiency.
• Knowledge and discernment: Broad awareness of the range and content of the Dean’s responsibilities and duties, along with the clear recognition and significance of confidentiality in the activities of the Dean’s Office. Must possess significant independent judgement with the ability to anticipate problems and adapt to campus changes.
• Clear understanding of the mission of GCTS and the willingness to abide by the Community Life Statement of GCTS.
Education and Experience
• Bachelor’s degree required, Master’s preferred.
• Minimum of 3-5 years of full-time work experience in higher education supporting a higher-level executive.
Application Process
Please apply through Gordon-Conwell’s Career Center available here: https://www.gordonconwell.edu/employment/
Please include these documents in either Microsoft Word or PDF formats:
• A cover letter addressed to Dr. Virginia Ward, Dean of CUME, explaining your interest in the position preferred.
• A current resume that includes the names of at least three references required.
No hard copy materials, please. Opportunities to interview will be made available at the search committee’s initiative. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
Prof. Shively T. J. Smith receives The HistoryMakers 2023-24 Fellowship Award for Innovation in Pedagogy and Teaching
The HistoryMakers: the Digital Repository for the Black Experience, announced in a recent email announcement and press release that Assistant Professor of New Testament Shively T. J. Smith has been awarded one of twelve 2023-24 fellowships awarded to faculty in the United States who are dedicated to diversifying higher education curricula and furthering student learning.
Prof. Smith’s award was given to further her online course “Howard Thurman: Biblical Interpreter for the Public Square,” which will be offered as part of the fully online Master of Arts in Religion and Public Leadership degree program of study. Prof. Smith will help students explore the life and vision of Howard Thurman from the perspective of “Thurman as an interpreter” to examine his “interpretive actions as a religious leader and expand understanding about the historical moments, people, and institutions Thurman engages and influence.”
According to the announcement, award recipients will “demonstrate how faculty can creatively incorporate The HistoryMakers Digital Archive into a fall 2023 semester course and syllabus.”
Many congratulations to Prof. Smith for receiving this important fellowship.
PhD Student Stephen Waldron Awarded the 2023 Carr Scholarship in Science and Religion
Stephen Waldron, who is working on his Ph.D. with Prof. Wesley Wildman, is the winner of the 2023 Carr Scholarship in Science and Religion. Steve’s Ph.D. dissertation compares empirical moral psychology, which considers morality as an obligation, with 20th Century Protestant Theologians.
Paul H. Carr, PhD, established this scholarship to commemorate his dad Rev. Auburn J. Carr’s graduation from the Boston University School of Theology in 1932.
Thomas Szabo is a BU Professor of Biomedical Engineering, whose book “Diagnostic Ultrasonic Imaging: Inside Out” has been cited over 2200 times. In 1972, Tom worked in Paul’s Microwave Acoustics Branch of the Air Force Research Laboratory, Hanscom AFB, MA. Tom developed surface acoustic wave (SAW) signal processing theory and used Fortran programming to match Paul’s data in the paper they coauthored. This was the beginning of their many discoveries and patents.