JOHN BURGESS RECEIVES FULBRIGHT U.S. SCHOLAR AWARD FOR 2025-2026
The Rev. Dr. John P. Burgess, James Henry Snowden Professor of Systematic Theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award in religious studies to Romania for the 2025-2026 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. This marks Dr. Burgess’s third time as a Fulbright scholar, after two prior fellowships to Russia in 2011 and in 2018-2019.
Dr. Burgess will be based at the Orthodox theological faculty at the state university in Sibiu. Besides giving guest lectures, he will be researching how Orthodox Christianity has shaped and continues to shape Romanian national identity. He hopes to understand more generally how religion can contribute to a healthy sense of nationhood that rejects xenophobia and ethnic-racial exclusivism. Dr. Burgess will be the first Protestant theologian to be based at a Romanian Orthodox theological faculty—an opportunity which builds upon his prior work on Orthodoxy in Russia and Ukraine.
An ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Dr. Burgess has taught at PTS for more than 25 years. In addition to his three Fulbright fellowships, he has been a Luce Fellow in Theology (2011-2012) and a research fellow at the Center of Theological Inquiry (2014-2015). He has served his denomination as a member of the Presbyteries’ Cooperative Committee on Examinations and the Re-forming Ministry Initiative (Office of Theology and Worship) and as a faculty mentor for the Company of New Pastors. Dr. Burgess is the author of several books, including Encounters with Orthodoxy: How Protestant Churches Can Reform Themselves Again (WJK, 2013), A Pastoral Rule for Today: Reviving an Ancient Tradition (IVP Academic, 2019), Holy Rus’: The Rebirth of Orthodoxy in the New Russia (Yale, 2017), and, most recently, Why Read Pavel Florensky? (The Catholic University of America Press, 2024). He holds a B.A. from Colorado College, an M.Div. from McCormick Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Christian theology from the University of Chicago.
Fulbright U.S. Scholars are faculty, researchers, administrators, and established professionals teaching or conducting research in affiliation with institutes abroad. These scholars exchange ideas, build people-to-people connections, and work to address complex global challenges. Notable Fulbrighters include 62 Nobel Laureates, 93 Pulitzer Prize winners, 82 MacArthur Fellows, 44 heads of state or government, and thousands of leaders across the private, public, and non-profit sectors.
“It’s exciting to see Dr. Burgess’ important work of studying the connections between national identity and Christian heritage continue, and to be recognized by such a notable organization,” said the Rev. Dr. Asa Lee, president of Pittsburgh Seminary. “His long-developed expertise in this area and the commitment to his field have set him up for this remarkable moment of intercultural bridge-building. PTS is proud of the work Professor Burgess has done and anticipates with hope the further cross-cultural understanding that his work will make possible.”