Release date: Oct. 8, 2002
Contact: Elaine Justice, Associate Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-727-0643 or ejustic@emory.edu

Robert Franklin Named Presidential Distinguished Professor

Robert M. Franklin, former president of Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC), has been named by Emory University President William M. Chace as Presidential Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics at Emory's Candler School of Theology.

In announcing the appointment, Chace praised Franklin for his "singular accomplishments and contributions as a scholar, public intellectual and catalyst for social progress nationally and regionally."

Russell Richey, dean of Candler, noted that Franklin has "launched or led quite a number of initiatives concerned with education, community development, race relations, social justice and public health."

Franklin's appointment will begin in the fall of 2003. He will be a visiting professor at Harvard in the spring of 2003.

Franklin currently serves as a senior fellow at Emory's Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion, which is in the midst of a two-year research project on "Sex, Marriage and Family & the Religions of the Book." The center's project will culminate in March 2003 with an international conference on the topic.

Franklin's work with CISR will include preparation of an important study titled, "The Future of African-American Marriages and Families."

An ordained minister, Franklin also serves as a commentator for National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" and has worked with the White House on several projects related to religion, race, public health and community development.

During his tenure at ITC from 1997 to 2002, Franklin guided the institution in the reaffirmation of its accreditation, established new public service programs to address training for faith-based institutions in HIV-AIDS prevention, diversified the funding sources for the school, increased faculty development benefits and increased the size of the student body.

Prior to his service at ITC, Franklin was a program officer in the Human Rights and Social Justice Program of the Ford Foundation. He also has been a member of the Candler faculty, serving as assistant professor and director of Black Church Studies from 1989-1991 and associate professor from 1991-1994. Prior to coming to Emory, Franklin was dean of Black Church Studies at Colgate Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, N.Y. He also has served on the faculties of Harvard and the University of Chicago divinity schools, from which he holds M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees respectively.

He is the author of "Another Day's Journey: Black Churches Confronting the American Crisis" and "Liberating Visions: Human Fulfillment and Social Justice in African American Thought," and a co-author with Don Browning et. al. of "From Culture Wars to Common Ground: Religion and the American Family Debate."

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