Prof. Williams

Rector Zsolt Geréb of the United Protestant Seminary, Cluj, Romania, presented on the 17th of October, 1996, Professor George M. Williams of the Department of Religious Studies, California State University, Chico, the award of "Doctor Honoris Causa on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of Martin Luther's death. Williams delivered the customary formal doctoral lecture as well as giving a series of public lectures on Asian religions at Transylvania's single surviving Protestant seminary.

Williams' work on liberating religions in the global context was cited in the award.

In 1991, Williams was the first person to teach a course on Asian religions in the history of the Protestant Seminary. In 1992 he taught a model course in the academic study of religion at József Attila University, Szeged, Hungary. According to the American Academy of Religion, this was very likely the first non-confessional or non-ideological course on the academic study of religion taught in an East European university. While in Pecs on his sabbatical in 1993, Williams delivered a series of lectures on Asian Religions at Hungary's largest Roman Catholic Seminary.

Williams is a specialist on the Hindu Renaissance in modern India. He has also studied for over a decade liberal Buddhist and Shinto groups in Japan, travelling there 16 times and producing a film entitled "The Bodhisattva Way of Peace: Lay Buddhism in Japan" (1986). His video productions include "Shinichiro Imaoka: Emerson of Japan" (1986); "The Lamp of the Dharma" (1993); and a video series of five programs on Shinto (including learning modules for the classroom). He worked with Rev. Shigeru Handa of Nagoya on the Multimedia Dictionary on Shinto and Japanese Culture--an award-winning CD ROM learning program.

The honorary doctorate is the result of the involvement of both Williams and his wife, Dr. Judit Gellérd, in the religious recovery of religious minorities in Eastern Europe. Gellérd's father was a religious leader and martyr under communism. Her continuing help for her people, the Hungarian-speaking Transylvanian Unitarian Church, has already been honored. Williams thinks that, despite the interpretative power of his way of presenting liberating religion around the globe, the award was also an acknowledgement of his working as an ethical activist with his wife.