Dr. Jeffrey Richey Named 2016 GTU Alum of the Year

The Graduate Theological Union is pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Jeffrey L. Richey (PhD, 2000) as the GTU’s 2016 Alumnus of the Year. Dr. Richey holds the Francis Alexander McGaw Chair in Religion at Berea College in Kentucky, where he serves as Professor of Religion and Asian Studies.

Dr. Judith Berling, the GTU’s interim academic dean and Dr. Richey’s dissertation advisor, writes, “Jeffrey Richey is a highly respected scholar of Chinese and Japanese Religions who has published and edited numerous books on both historical and contemporary Confucianism and Daoism. He’s also a beloved teacher who is deeply committed to Berea College’s mission of teaching students from non-privileged backgrounds. Both in his scholarship and his teaching, Jeff embodies GTU values of interreligious understanding and transformative pedagogy.”

Richey earned his PhD in Cultural and Historical Studies of Religions at the GTU in 2000, then taught at the University of Findlay (Ohio) before coming to Berea in 2002. His teaching interests include classical Chinese and Japanese cultures, East Asian Philosophy and Religion, and Religion in East Asian Film and Literature. In addition to the GTU, Richey has degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (BA) and Harvard University (MTS).

Richey’s publications include two monographs, Confucius in East Asia: Confucianism's History in China, Korea, Japan, and Viet Nam (Association for Asian Studies, 2013) and The Patheos Guide to Confucianism (Patheos Press, 2012), as well as three edited volumes: Daoism in Japan: Chinese Traditions and Their Influence on Japanese Religious Culture (Routledge, 2015), The Sage Returns: Confucian Revival in Contemporary China (with Kenneth J. Hammond) (State University of New York Press, 2015), and Teaching Confucianism (Oxford University Press, 2008). Since 2002, Richey has served as the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s Area Editor for Chinese Philosophy.

Dr. Richey is currently at work on a book tentatively entitled Interfaith Spirituality in Post-Religious America’s Asian Century. He lives in central Kentucky with his wife, two sons, three cats, and too many musical instruments to list.

Dr. Jeffrey Richey will be honored by the GTU on Saturday, November 19, at 8:00 pm at the GTU Alumni Reception during the annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature in San Antonio. All GTU alumni and friends are invited.

Congratulations to Dr. Jeffrey Richey, the GTU’s 2016 Alumnus of the Year!

See a list of Previous GTU Alumni of the Year