Frederick Borsch
Photo courtesy of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
Web Stories
Borsch named interim dean of religious life
Posted January 4, 2007; 04:35 p.m.
Frederick Borsch, dean of religious life and the chapel at Princeton
University from 1981 to 1988, will return to that role on an interim
basis, effective Feb. 1.
Borsch, a member of Princeton's class of 1957, will serve while a
search is conducted for a permanent successor to Thomas Breidenthal,
who has resigned effective Jan. 31 to become bishop of the Episcopal
Diocese of Southern Ohio. Breidenthal had been dean since 2002.
"The role of the dean of religious life and the chapel is a central one at Princeton. As its website
notes, the Office of Religious Life embodies the University's care and
support for the many religious communities that flourish on our
campus," said Janet Dickerson, vice president for campus life, who is
leading the search. "The dean provides leadership for more than 20
denominational and nondenominational chaplaincies and student religious
organizations, and is responsible for providing moral and spiritual
leadership within the context of our secular University environment."
She said she hopes to conclude the search by the end of the spring semester.
Borsch, the retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles,
currently is professor of New Testament and chair of Anglican studies
at the Lutheran Theological Seminar at Philadelphia.
After receiving his bachelor's degree in English from Princeton, he
earned a second bachelor's degree in theology from Oxford University.
He studied at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church
in New York City and earned a Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham
in England.
Borsch taught at Seabury-Western Seminary in Evanston, Ill., and at the
General Theological Seminary, then served as dean, president and
professor of New Testament literature at the Church Divinity School of
the Pacific in Berkeley, Calif. After his time as dean at Princeton, he
was bishop in Los Angeles for 14 years. Following his retirement, he
was interim dean of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University and
associate dean of the Yale Divinity School for a year.
Borsch served as a Princeton trustee from 1998 to 2002 and his son
Benjamin is a member of Princeton's class of 1984. He is the author or
editor of 18 books and has contributed essays, articles and poetry to a
number of journals and newspapers.