Perkins to celebrate installation of three faculty members in endowed chairs

DALLAS (SMU) – Perkins School of Theology at SMU will celebrate the installation of three faculty members in two endowed chairs and one endowed professorship during a series of events Sept. 30–Oct. 1, recognizing Frederick D. Aquino, Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner and Karen Baker-Fletcher for their scholarship, teaching and contributions to theological education.

The two-day celebration will include inaugural lectures by Aquino and Baker-Fletcher and a Service of Installation with a sermon by Stevenson-Moessner in Perkins Chapel.

“Celebrating the installation of three distinguished scholars at the same time is a remarkable moment for Perkins,” said Leighton K. Farrell Endowed Dean Bryan P. Stone. “Fred Aquino, Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner, and Karen Baker-Fletcher represent both the extraordinary strength of our faculty and the breadth of theological scholarship that defines our school—from systematic and constructive theology to practical theology and pastoral care. Endowed chairs and professorships make it possible for Perkins to honor exceptional scholars, sustain ambitious teaching and research, and invest in theological work that matters for the church, the academy, and the wider world.”

All events will take place on the SMU campus and are open to the public. Event details and registration are available below:

Wednesday, Sept. 30

• 5 p.m. – Edward and Emma Lehman Chair of Christian Doctrine Lecture with Frederick D. Aquino in Prothro Hall. Reception to follow in Kirby Commons

Thursday, Oct. 1

• 11 a.m. – Service of Installation in Perkins Chapel with Frederick Aquino, Edward and Emma Lehman Chair of Christian Doctrine; Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner, Susanna Wesley Centennial Chair of Practical Theology; and Karen Baker-Fletcher, Wendland-Cook Professor in Constructive Theology. Stevenson-Moessner will preach and officiate the Lord’s Supper, assisted by Aquino and Baker-Fletcher.
• 3:30 p.m. – Reception in Kirby Commons, followed by Wendland-Cook Professor in Constructive Theology Lecture with Karen Baker-Fletcher in Prothro Hall

Stevenson-Moessner became the third scholar to hold the Susanna Wesley Centennial Chair earlier this year. A longtime scholar of practical theology, pastoral care and spiritual formation, she has published extensively on the relationship between theology, lived experience and ministry practice.

Aquino has served on the Perkins faculty since 2023 as Professor of Systematic Theology. His research includes deification, soteriology, philosophy of perception, epistemology and philosophy of religion, with particular attention to the works of John Cassian, John Henry Newman and Maximus the Confessor. He is the fifth faculty member in SMU history to hold the Lehman Chair.

Baker-Fletcher was appointed the Wendland-Cook Professor in Constructive Theology effective Sept. 1. A member of the Perkins faculty since 2001, her scholarship engages theology with issues of race, gender, justice, spirituality, ecology and the Black religious experience. The Wendland-Cook Endowed Professorship in Constructive Theology was established by Barbara Cook Wendland and Erroll Wendland to promote theological exploration among laity and clergy, with particular emphasis on questions of power, justice, nonviolence and the relationship between theological scholarship and the local church.

The installation brings together three distinct areas of theological scholarship while also recognizing the contributions Aquino, Stevenson-Moessner and Baker-Fletcher have made to their respective fields and to the Perkins community.

SMU Perkins School of Theology, founded in 1911, is one of five official University-related schools of theology of The United Methodist Church. Degree programs include the Master of Divinity, Master of Sacred Music, Master of Theological Studies, Master of Arts in Ministry, Master of Theology, Doctor of Ministry, and Doctor of Pastoral Music as well as the Ph.D., in cooperation with The Graduate Program in Religious Studies at SMU's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.