On Jan. 20, the first convocation will be the Founder’s Day Lecture featuring Rev. Dr. Serene Jones, the 16th president of the Union Theological Seminary in New York. In the history of the 176-year-old interdenominational seminary, she is the first woman to be in charge of such an organization. A scholar in the fields of theology, religion and gender studies, Jones is an ordained minister in the Christian Church and the United Church of Christ.

She earned a B.A. from the University of Oklahoma, a M.Div. from Yale Divinity School and a Ph.D. in theology from Yale University. She is also the author of “Calvin and the Rhetoric of Piety and Trauma and Grace,” a leading theologian and regularly contributes to discussions both scholarly and public concerning faith, social justice and public life. The lecture will take place in the Bradley Fine Arts Center at 11 a.m. with a luncheon to follow, for those pre-registered for the event, at 12:30 p.m. in the David and Valerie Black Room in the Laun Center.

For more information about the luncheon and/or to RSVP, contact Colleen Darling at [email protected] or visit lakeland.edu.