Pusey Affirms Tillich Appointment; Theologian Will Teach in Fall of '55

Paul J. Tillich, world-famous Protestant theologian, will definitely hold the office of University Professor, effective July 1, 1954, President Pusey announced yesterday.

Tillich, however, will not teach at the University until the fall of 1955, after filling commitments to deliver the Gifford Lectures at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and to lecture at Union Theological Seminary next spring.

Might Teach Undergraduates

In the Divinity School, Tillich will teach courses in Systematic Theology. It has been rumored that he may also teach an undergraduate course in the relation of philosophy to religion.

Provided that the response to these courses in noteworthy, the College might possibly initiate a new undergraduate department of Religion.

Tillich has pioneered in studies on the relationship of theology to philosophy, history, and psychology. Theologically, he has drawn on both Calvinist and Lutheran traditions, and he stands, in the contemporary Protestant theological circle, between the neo-orthodox and the liberal.

A brilliant teacher of theology and philosophy in German universities, he came to this country in 1933, after the rise of Hitler, and has been a professor at Union Theological Seminary since that time. He became a citizen of the United States in 1940.

His first book in English, "The Religions Situation," was published in 1932, and this was followed by a series of influential studies, including "The Interpretation of History," (1936), "The Protestant Era" (1948), "The Shaking of the Foundations" (1918), "The Courage to Be" (1950), and "Systematic Theology" (1951).