Columbia’s Board of Trustees has approved the appointments of Anna Carter Florence and Rodger Nishioka to two distinguished faculty chairs.  Carter Florence, associate professor of preaching and worship, has been named to the Peter Marshall Chair of Homiletics. Nishioka, associate professor of Christian education, has been named to the Benton Family Chair of Christian Education.

Anna Carter Florence joined the seminary faculty in 1998. Nationally acclaimed as a preacher and lecturer, she is the author of the book Preaching as Testimony(Westminster/John Knox, 2007). In addition, she served
as editor of Inscribing the Text: Recent Sermons and Prayers by Walter Brueggemann (Fortress, 2004), and she is the author of numerous articles on preaching and homiletics. She received a B.A. degree from Yale University and the M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary. An ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), she served as associate pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church, Minneapolis, MN, from 1988 to 1993.

Rodger Nishioka is the first faculty member to hold the Benton Family chair, which was established with gifts from the estate of Winona Benton, and from John and Suzanne Benton of Birmingham, AL. An ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Nishioka joined the seminary faculty in 2000. Previously he had been national director for the denomination’s youth and young adult ministry program. He received the B.A. degree from Seattle Pacific University, the M.A. in theological studies from McCormick Theological Seminary, and the Ph.D. from Georgia State University.

He is the author of numerous articles and book chapters, as well as three books published by Witherspoon Street Press: Sowing the Seeds, on faith development in adolescents; The Roots of Who We Are, an exploration of youth ministry and Reformed theology; and Rooted in Love, a collection of devotionals for youth ministry leaders. He is currently revising this for publication and is working on two additional books to be published by Westminster/John Knox Press: @ Church? Ministry with Young Adults and Youth in the Bible. Nishioka has received numerous awards for his work in behalf of young people. In 1992, he was named Educator of the Year by the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators. Austin College, in Sherman, TX, honored him with the Doctor of Divinity degree in 1998, and in 2002, he received the Children’s Champion Award from Presbyterian Children’s Homes and Related Ministries, in Dayton, OH.