McDonald, Nazro, Cooper and Griswold to be honored at commencement

The Most Rev. Frank Griswold will preach the sermon during the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest's commencement May 18.

Presiding Bishop Griswold, the Very Rev. Durstan McDonald, dean-emeritus of the seminary, and Lucy Nazro, veteran Episcopalian educator, will receive the honorary doctor of humane letters degree as 26 students are graduated. Malcolm Cooper will be the recipient of the 2004 Trustees' Award during the seminary's fifty-first commencement that will begin at 10 a.m. at St. Matthew's Church in Austin.

Speaking on the presiding bishop's visit to the seminary, the Very Rev'd Dr. Titus Presler, dean and president of the seminary, said "Bp. Griswold is a spiritually centered leader who has been exemplary in drawing the Episcopal Church together in conversation about the challenges facing our common life." "In this time of turmoil in the church," he added, "I look forward to the counsel about leadership that he can offer to our graduates. We're honored that he and his wife Phoebe will be with us."

Griswold's visit will mark the first time a current presiding bishop will preach at the seminary's graduation exercises. The late John Hines, founder of the Seminary of the Southwest, delivered the commencement sermon at the seminary in May 1994, 20 years after retiring as the twenty-second presiding bishop. The Rt. Rev. Edmond Browning, Bp. Griswold's predecessor, received an honorary doctoral degree from the seminary in 1995 but did not preach.

Dean-emeritus McDonald, a member of St. David's Episcopal Church, retired from the seminary in 2002 after 18 years of leadership. The McDonald legacy at the seminary is distinguished by an institutional focus on mission, significant enrollment gains as ETSS bolstered its church-wide presence, innovative curriculum initiatives for both lay and ordination-track students, and a six-fold increase in endowment. Dean McDonald, who continues to teach part-time at the seminary, was interim dean and rector of the American Cathedral in Paris, France, in 2003.

Head of school of St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Austin since 1980, Nazro is a nationally-recognized Episcopalian educator. Former president and now secretary of the National Association of Episcopal Schools, Nazro has more than doubled St. Andrew's enrollment while adding a middle and upper school, as well as a second campus, during her tenure. A 1966 ETSS graduate, Nazro, a member of All Saints' Church, was the first woman to receive the masters degree from the Seminary of the Southwest. The ETSS alumni/ae association selected Nazro as the first recipient of its annual Hal Perry Award for exemplary ministry in 1992.

A member of St. David's Church, Cooper retired from the seminary's board of trustees last year after 22 years of service -- most of which as board treasurer and chair of the finance committee. His service to the seminary, the parish and diocesan levels of the Episcopal Church and the wider Austin community (Austin Symphony, KMFA, St. David's Medical Center, the Children's Museum and the Boy Scouts, to name a few) is prodigious.