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Guest Preacher March 12: Dr. José Irizarry

Dr. Irizarry became Austin Seminary’s tenth president in June 2022. Since 2016, Irizarry has served as Vice President of Education at the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). A scholar in the field of practical theology, Irizarry teaches at Villanova University and has held teaching and administrative positions at various educational and theological institutions including The University of Cambridge (Visiting Fellow), Lutheran School of Theology, the Pacific School of Religion, and McCormick Theological Seminary.

Out of his expertise as a bilingual educator, Dr. Irizarry directed Cambridge College’s regional campus in his native San Juan, Puerto Rico, (2011-2015) and served as academic dean, acting president, and held The Limardo Chair in Practical Theology at the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico (2007-2011). He earned degrees from the University of Puerto Rico (BA), McCormick Theological Seminary (MDiv), and Northwestern University (PhD) as well as professional certifications from the Universitá per Stranieri di Perugia, Italy, Boston College, and Cornell University.

Supporting his work in the field of religious education and intercultural relations, Irizarry has traveled internationally to lead seminars and conferences and to conduct research. He has chaired academic accreditation teams in the US and Puerto Rico and served as president of the Religious Education Association in the United States and Canada. An ordained minister in the PC(USA), he has served the church as member of the Review Committee of the Whole (assessing the work of all agencies of the Presbyterian Church) and on the Committee on Theological Education. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation (Westminster John Knox Press, Geneva Press) for eight years and was recently a Trustee at Columbia Theological Seminary. He served interim pastoral positions at Presbyterian and inter-denominational congregations in Puerto Rico and the US.