Steve Bouma-Prediger ’79 joined the faculty at Hope in 1994 and is currently a professor of religion. He served from 2006–2013 as chairperson of the Department of Religion and from 2013–2017 he was the associate dean for teaching and learning. He also oversees the Environmental Studies minor and chairs the Campus Sustainability Advisory Committee, otherwise known as The Green Team.

Education

• Ph.D., religious studies, The University of Chicago, 1992
• M.Div., theology, Fuller Theological Seminary, 1987
• M.Phil., philosophy, Institute for Christian Studies, 1984
• B.A., math and computer science, Hope College, 1979

Professional experience

Steve is an adjunct professor at Western Theological Seminary and teaches in Belize and New Zealand for the Creation Care Study Program. He has taught at North Park College in Chicago and Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.

Awards and recognition

• Appointment to the Leonard and Marjorie Maas Endowed Chair in Reformed Theology, 2017–2022
• Hope College nominee for the Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, 2010
• Chosen by Hope College Mortar Board Honor Society to give a “Last Lecture,” 2009
• Appointment to the John H. and Jeanne M. Jacobson Endowed Chair, 2003–2007
• Award of Merit, For the Beauty of the Earth, in the Christianity Today Book Awards, theology/ethics category, 2002
• Hope College nominee for the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching U.S. Professor of the Year, 2002
• Outstanding Faculty Award (selected by student body), Hope College, 2001
• Hope’s Outstanding Professor Educator Award (voted by seniors), Hope College, 1999
• Commencement speaker (selected by senior class), Hope College, 1998
• North Park College Student Service Award (selected by students), North Park College, 1994
• Chicago Tribune All Star Professor Team, 1994

Why I love Hope

Steve appreciates Hope’s high academic standards and its bright, hard-working students. He is grateful for his friendly colleagues who are dedicated scholars and creative teachers in an ethos that combines a commitment to excellence in teaching with a strong emphasis on first-rate research. He enjoys working in a big small town at a robustly Christian college that takes its mission statement seriously in trying to welcome everyone.

Outside the college

Steve’s wife, Celaine, is a marriage and family therapist, a spiritual director, and an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America. They have three grown-up girls: Anna lives and works in Florida, Chara runs the Food Club program for the Community Action House in Holland, and Sophia works in the refugee resettlement program for Bethany Christian Services. Steve and his wife share their 130-year-old downtown Holland home with Lily, their lively Boston Terrier, and a dozen trees.

Steve spends as much time as possible outside. For 40 years he taught a three-week Hope May Term course called Ecological Theology and Ethics, which included canoeing and backpacking in the Adirondacks.