Highland Park United Methodist Church Gift Honors Former Pastor, SMU President, and Alumnus Umphrey Lee
$1.5 million to fund faculty endowment, provide for Future Church Leaders Program
DALLAS (SMU) – Highland Park United Methodist Church (HPUMC) is providing a $1.5 million gift to SMU that will allow its longtime University neighbor to endow the Umphrey Lee Professorship in Methodist History, as well as support the HPUMC Future Church Leaders Program.
The announcement of the gift falls on the date of SMU’s Centennial, allowing the University to celebrate its longstanding relationship with the church that held its first service on the SMU campus in 1916, as well as to underscore the legacy of a storied leader.
“When it comes to Umphrey Lee, it’s hard to know where SMU ends and Highland Park United Methodist Church begins, because Rev. Lee served us both for so many years,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Our HPUMC neighbors are part of the SMU family and we feel a special sense of pride that this gift will support us in teaching the rich Methodist history that we share and help to prepare future church leaders. It’s a wonderful way to celebrate our combined centennials.”
Lee arrived at SMU in 1915 (the year the University opened), was elected the first student body president, and received his master’s degree as a member of SMU’s first graduating class in 1916. He served as pastor of HPUMC for 13 years, as SMU’s fourth president for 15 years (including during the World War II years) and as its chancellor after he stepped down as president. Over his lifetime he wrote 10 scholarly books on topics including Methodist history, the relationship between church and state, and pacifism in the context of the historic church.
“Umphrey Lee was a scholar of Methodist history who believed that the liberal arts should make students think about their responsibilities in society, and that a successful experience at Southern Methodist University would help instill personal and social values,” said William B. Lawrence, dean of the Perkins School of Theology. “This gift from the congregation that Rev. Lee loved to the University that he also loved is a wonderful tribute to a man whose influence on SMU was transformational.”
“Our church history dates back to the founding of SMU, but our relationship is more than just an overlapping of time and geography,” said Paul Rasmussen, senior pastor at Highland Park United Methodist Church. “It is our privilege to endow this professorship and to support the growth of future church leaders as we prepare for future generations of congregants. The Perkins School of Theology is our partner in so many ways, and remains at the heart of the SMU tradition of outreach in the community and the world.”
The gift to endow the Umphrey Lee Professorship in Methodist History in the Perkins School of Theology and to support the HPUMC Future Church Leaders Program counts toward SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign, which celebrates today having reached its $1 billion goal to support students, faculty and academic excellence, and the campus experience.
“Achieving our campaign goal is vitally important to the future of this University,” said Brad Cheves, SMU vice president for development and external affairs. “To be able to celebrate today that our friends and neighbors at HPUMC helped us reach that goal makes the experience particularly joyful. They have our thanks and affection.”
SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls approximately 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools.
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 (June 2016) as well as the Ph.D., in cooperation with The Graduate Program in Religious Studies at SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.