CURW director is given national award for his achievements

Robert L. Johnson, director of Cornell United Religious Work, was honored recently with a life achievement award from the Association of College and University Religious Affairs (ACURA). He was one of three university clergy members nationally to receive the first-ever award.

Also honored were Robert Watts Thornburg, dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University, and Joseph Williamson, dean of religious life at Princeton University.

In its announcement, ACURA said the "awards seek to honor the long and distinguished leadership and service that each of these colleagues has demonstrated in the realm of higher education. ... While the pursuit of religion and spirituality is often seen as antithetical to higher education, Johnson and his colleagues have profoundly deepened the humanity and extended the hospitality of their institutions and thereby the vision of higher education. Each has challenged the academy to dream more broadly the purposes of higher education and the community to whom that dream should be extended and accessible."

Johnson came to Cornell in 1982 as director of CURW. Housed in Anabel Taylor Hall, CURW is a group of more than 20 affiliated religious communities that offer programs of worship, study and social life, as well as opportunities for students to engage in interfaith dialogue.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina, Johnson was ordained in 1954 in the United Methodist Church. He received his master of divinity degree from the Union Theological School in 1955 and a master of theology from Harvard Divinity School in 1968. He served for 18 years as director for the Wesley Foundation at Chapel Hill and also has served as president of the National Institute for Campus Ministries and president of ACURA. Johnson now serves on the editorial board of the journal Cross Currents. He has published many articles and also is the author of a book titled Counter Culture and the Vision of God, published in 1971.

ACURA (pronounced Ah-Koor-Ah) is a professional group of approximately 60 chaplains and directors from universities nationwide. The ACURA awards were presented during a banquet held in Los Angeles on Oct. 30.