Dr. Steven Hoogerwerf ’77 joined the Hope faculty in 1992. He is an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America.

AREAS OF Expertise

Dr. Hoogerwerf teaches courses in theology and ethics, including:

• Religion and Atrocity
• Christian Love
• Ethics and Christian Discipleship
• Vocation and Health Care, a senior seminar class

His focus areas include Christian sexual ethics and medical ethics. Since coming to Hope, he has served as a healthcare ethics consultant to several area hospitals, nursing homes and hospices. Steven has served as a parish pastor, hospice chaplain and director of an emergency food and shelter program.

Dr. Hoogerwerf regularly offers an off-campus May Term course on the Pine Ridge Reservation (southwest South Dakota), home of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The reservation is the third poorest place in the U.S., but is rich in history and culture and is populated by a strong and generous people. The Oglala Lakota tribe included members such as Crazy Horse, Red Cloud and Black Elk, and the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre is located on the Pine Ridge Reservation. This service-learning course provides students with an opportunity for mutual giving and receiving, and a chance to listen to the voices and stories of people whose experience is usually very different from their own.

EDUCATION

• Ph.D., theology and ethics, Duke University, 1991
• M.Div., Western Theological Seminary, 1981
• B.A., religion and philosophy, Hope College, 1977 
  • Summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa

HONORS and AWARDS

• Chosen by Hope College Mortar Board to deliver a "Last Lecture," 2014
• Outstanding Faculty Award (selected by student body), Hope College, 2009
• Hope College Commencement Speaker (selected by senior class), 2008 
• Hope's Outstanding Professor Educator Award (selected by seniors), Hope College, 2007
• Janet L. Andersen Excellence in Teaching Award, Hope College, 2006
• Outstanding Contributions to Community Service-Learning Award, Michigan Campus Compact, 2006

OUtside the College

In service to the Reformed Church in America, Steven has served as moderator of the General Synod's Christian Action Commission and the Commission on Race and Ethnicity and as a member of the Commission on Theology.

He is currently the healthcare ethics consultant for Holland Community Hospital, Resthaven and Freedom Village. In addition, he has recently served on the board of directors for Camp Sunshine and continues as a member of the board of Re-Member, a service organization on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Dr. Hoogerwerf has served as an adjunct professor at Western Theological Seminary, teaching a variety of courses in Christian ethics.

During his favorite season, summer, Steven enjoys being outside — hiking, kayaking and sailing — or most anything else that brings him into close contact with the wondrous beauty of God's creation.

Steven is married to Joellen ’77. They have two children who graduated from Hope: Lisa, an RN and part-time portrait photographer in the Holland area, and Colin, an environmentalist working with a West Michigan land conservancy.