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Distinguished Alumna/us Award

Marshall Dunn named 2025 Distinguished Alumnus

J. Marshall Dunn, Minister Emeritus of University Christian Church, Hyattsville, Maryland, has been honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award by the Alumni/ae Council.

Marshall Dunn entered the Divinity School as a Disciples Divinity House Scholar in 1965. In 1974 he was called to University Christian Church near the University of Maryland, where he would serve for 31 years, building a multi-racial and culturally diverse congregation that has been deeply involved in vibrant worship, community outreach, and transformational ministry ever since. He has spent the equivalent of more than one year of his life counseling or directing church camps. After his retirement in 2006, Dunn provided interim leadership in local congregations, as regional minister in the Capital Area, and as Temporary Associate General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Dunn was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2012. As chair of its House Committee, he is currently leading efforts to reimagine and renew DDH's two residential floors and to prepare for the future of ministry.

THE AWARD

The Distinguished Alumna/us Award recognizes lifelong service and achievement by a Disciples Divinity House alumna or alumnus. The recipients have been exemplars of varied forms of ministry and service; in some sense, they have each defined these forms. The award, established in 1979, is typically presented at the General Assembly.