Seminary to hold 193rd commencement Saturday

234 students graduating in six degree programs.

   Princeton Theological Seminary will hold its 193rd commencement exercises 5 p.m. Saturday in the Princeton University Chapel.
   Seminary President Dr. Iain R. Torrance will deliver the commencement address before the 234 students graduating in six degree programs.
   Of those, 153 will receive the master of divinity degree, the basic professional degree for Christian ministry. Three students will receive the master of arts degree; two will receive the master of arts (theological studies) degree; 47 will receive the master of theology degree; nine will receive the doctor of ministry degree; and eight will receive the master of divinity-master of arts dual-degree.
   Twenty students will be awarded the doctor of philosophy degree, the highest degree awarded by the institution.
   Twenty-five international students will graduate, including students from Scotland, South Korea, Switzerland, Ghana, Nigeria, India and South Africa. Four military chaplains, who attended the seminary for further education during active duty, will receive degrees.
   Hui Chen, a master of divinity graduate, is the 2005 winner of the $10,000 David H.C. Read Preacher/Scholar Award given by the congregation of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City to honor their former pastor, the Rev. Dr. David H.C. Read.
   The award is given to a student in the final year of a master of divinity degree program who demonstrates special distinction in both preaching and biblical scholarship and is committed to the parish pulpit ministry.
   In July, Mr. Chen will be a scholar-in-residence for six months studying patristics at the University of Cambridge.
   Princeton Theological Seminary was founded in 1812 as the first seminary established by the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church. It is the largest Presbyterian seminary in the country, with more than 700 students in six graduate-degree programs.