Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Ethical Leadership Walter Fluker Announces his Retirement
Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Ethical Leadership, Walter Fluker announces his retirement at the end of the 2019-2020 school year. Dr. Fluker returned to his alma mater as professor in 2009, having dedicated his study and teaching to the lives of Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King Jr. at Morehouse College, Colgate-Rochester Divinity School. and Vanderbilt University.
About his experience at STH, Fluker writes, “The ghosts of King and Thurman led me to the office of the newly appointed Dean of the School of Theology during the summer of 2009 where I met with Mary Elizabeth Moore. When she announced that the Martin Luther King, Jr. Chair was open, I felt again the polite urgings from the old ghosts. Returning to the place of origins, at least in my mind, was fantastical, mystical, extraordinary and fated. It was as if I had completed a circular journey—a coming home. To be named the Martin Luther King, Jr. Chair at my alma mater was indeed the highest honor of my career, but it was more. I counted it as a blessing to be in the very place where I studied under Professor John Cartwright, who held the MLK Chair, and where my academic career was launched. I would also have access to the collections of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Howard Thurman; and be in a space where these titans of the spiritual and moral struggle for the soul of America had studied, taught, preached and nurtured a dream that King called “the beloved community” and Thurman called “common ground”. As the MLK Chair, I have sought to be faithful to their visions of courage, justice and compassion in my teaching, research and writings.
I am so grateful for the students, faculty colleagues at STH and throughout the university, the alumni/ae, the administration and the staff who have supported my work, which I hope has brought honor to our great tradition of learning, virtue and piety. I will miss these precious relationships, but I will find ways to still be a part of the great company and cloud of witnesses that bear the mantle of the School of the Prophets.”
Dean Mary Elizabeth Moore expresses gratitude for “Dr. Fluker’s ten years of remarkable service to the School of Theology, Boston University, and the larger community of scholars and churches, who have delighted in his ground-breaking scholarship, friendship, visions for ethical leadership, preaching, and teaching.” She adds: “Walter is a rare individual who remains completely centered even as he addresses the most intractable problems of racism, nationalism, economic and educational injustice, and homophobia. He analyzes issues with a razor sharp mind, draws deeply from African and African American wisdom, and constructs alternative pathways toward hope. He is a brilliant teacher, mentor, and friend, who closes every conversation with ‘Stay in the Light.’” Dr. Fluker will be half-time in 2019-2020, but will be very present in STH in the fall semester and in a March travel seminar. We look forward to celebrating and learning from him next year and in years to come. For now, we simply say to Walter Fluker, “Stay in the Light.”