BUSTH Announces Distinguished Alumni for 2024
The Boston University School of Theology (BUSTH) is pleased to announce this year’s Distinguished Alumni for 2024. A list of previous winners can be found on the BUSTH website.
“In a world where religion too often continues to be invoked to support division and discord, these distinguished alumni bear testimony to the life-giving, creative, justice-seeking, inclusive, and invitational possibilities of spirituality, worship, pastoral care, and theological education,” says G. Sujin Pak, dean. “From tapping into the inspirational power of the musical arts, contemplative spirituality, and mindfulness to advocacy for LGBTQIA+ and Hispanic-Latinx communities to a wide vision of spirituality and ministry, these alumni are ambassadors of inclusive hope, social transformation, and compassionate presence. STH is proud to present our 2024 Distinguished Alumni!”
A celebration of these alums and their achievements will be part of our annual Community Day, scheduled for Wednesday, September 25, 2024. Please register for our Community Day by responding on this page.
2024 School of Theology Distinguished Alumni
Mr. Matthew L. Greer (’03)
Dr. Rodolfo Ramos Nolasco, Jr. (’02)
Rev. Dr. Dianne Reistroffer (’82, ’89)
In the category of Emerging Leader:
Dr. Emma Arely Escobar (’14)
2024 Distinguished Alumni Biographies
Matthew Greer (MTS’03) is Director of Music and Worship Arts at St. John’s United Methodist Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he has served on staff since 2003. At St. John’s, he helps to facilitate music-making for all ages and has created numerous community outreach initiatives. Through concert and worship experiences that incorporate jazz, Bach, folk music, and everything in between, the St. John’s music program has become an important and inclusive part of Albuquerque’s arts community. Their partnership with Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless has raised over $75,000 for that organization’s clients over the last decade.
Matt also serves as Artistic Director for Quintessence, A Community of Singers, a choral organization that creates space for singers of all ability levels, from professionals to amateurs. Quintessence presents an innovative four-concert season, an annual summer choral festival for singers of all ages, and open community singing events in parks and pubs. In partnership with St. John’s, Quintessence also created Sing Together Albuquerque, an educational initiative that provides teaching artists to elementary classrooms in Albuquerque schools.
Matt has served as a guest conductor for the New Mexico Philharmonic, and as an adjunct member of the choral music faculty at the University of New Mexico. He is a recipient of Creative Albuquerque’s Bravo! Award, honoring artistic innovation, entrepreneurship and community impact.
In addition to his degree from STH, Matt earned Bachelor of Music and Master of Arts in Teaching degrees from Trinity University and completed certification studies in church music at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. He is married to Amy Greer, a pianist, teacher, and writer.
Dr. Rolf Nolasco, Jr. (ThD’02) is the Rueben P. Job Professor of spiritual formation and pastoral theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and director of the Rueben P. Job Institute for Spiritual Formation. He is an experienced professor, trained in pastoral psychology, mindfulness and contemplative spirituality, and affective neuroscience. Nolasco is also a clinician, a published author, having lived and worked across the world within various social and cultural contexts, and frequent workshop leader and speaker in the US and beyond.
In addition to Hearts Ablaze: Parables for the Queer Soul (Morehouse Publishing, 2022), he is the author of God’s Beloved Queer (Wipf & Stock, 2019), The Contemplative Counselor: A Way of Being (Fortress Press, 2011) and Compassionate Presence: A Radical Response to Human Suffering (Cascade Books, 2016). He is currently working on a book manuscript entitled Holy Hacking: Soul Habits for AI Engagement (Wipf & Stock, 2025), and Bluer than Blue: Depression, Dark Night of the Soul and Joy (Cascade Books, 2027).
He is the recipient of the 2019 GBHEM Teacher Exemplary Award during his inaugural year at Garrett and has received numerous grants and awards, including the Louisville Institute Project Research grant, The Templeton Religion Trust grant for the Compassionate Presence Project (www.compassionatepresence.ca), a Science and Religion in Dialogue grant from the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Dialogue on Science, Religion, and Ethics, and various grants from the Wabash Center of Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion.
Rev. Dr. Reistroffer (MDiv’82,’89) is a seasoned pastor, professor, and administrator. An ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, Dianne has pastored six congregations in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Kentucky. A ‘turn-around’ specialist and leader of church renewal, Dianne helped to spark new ministries within the churches and communities in which she served. In the 1990s, Dr. Reistroffer was the Director of the Wesley Foundation and Pastor of University United Methodist Church, one of two reconciling congregations in the state, with nearly one-third of the congregation identifying as LGBTQIA+.
For nearly three decades, she has been a theological educator, first at the School of Theology and now at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. In 1999, Dr. Reistroffer became the first woman and first non-Presbyterian to be elected Dean of the Seminary at Louisville Seminary. A practical theologian, Dr. Reistroffer has taught hundreds of students and directed more than 100 Doctor of Ministry projects. Her teaching and scholarly work has embraced a wide range of interests: adult religious education, the study of congregations, women in Methodist history, the Social Gospel, and faith and money. Currently she is the Interim Director of the Doctor of Ministry at Louisville Seminary, and a pastor at New Life in Christ Church, a prison congregation located inside a halfway house for women in recovery and in transition back to the community.
Emerging Leader
Dr. Emma Arely Escobar (MDiv’14) is a passionate advocate for justice, committed to denouncing systems of oppression and fostering solidarity with marginalized communities. She believes in the transformative power of collective action. Renowned for her impactful work in supporting Hispanic-Latinx faith communities and advancing social justice initiatives, she began her role as Director of the Hispanic-Latinx Center and Assistant Professor of Faith-based Organizing at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary on August 1, 2024.
Previously, Emma served as Coordinator of Hispanic-Latino Ministries and Community Organizing for the Baltimore-Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church and as a Grassroots Organizer on Immigration at the General Board of Church and Society. She currently presides over the Board of the Hispanic Youth Leadership Academy (HYLA).
Originally from El Salvador, Emma moved to the USA when her father was appointed to open the first Hispanic-Latino United Methodist Church in Providence, Rhode Island. Her personal experiences with immigration within her father’s church community have profoundly fueled her passion for advocacy and community empowerment.
Emma holds a Doctor of Ministry in Faith, Health, and Community from Wesley Theological Seminary and a Master of Divinity in Global and Community Engagement from Boston University School of Theology. She also earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences and Spanish Literature from the University of Rhode Island.