Gerald Pillay
Gerald John Pillay (born 21 December 1953) is a South African theologian and ecclesiastical historian. He has been Vice Chancellor and Rector of Liverpool Hope University in England since 2003. Early life and education. Pillay was born on 21 December 1953 in Natal in South Africa. His ancestors had come from India to the then British colony of Natal, and he grew up in Durban under apartheid. He studied at the University of Durban-Westville (a university established for Indian South Africans), graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1975, a Bachelor of Divinity (BD) degree  in 1978, and a Doctor of Theology (DTheol) degree in 1985. He also studied philosophical theology at Rhodes University, graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1984. Career. After lecturing at the University of Durban-Westville, he became Professor of Ecclesiastical History at the University of South Africa in 1988, a post he held for eight years. During this period, he was also Guest Professor at North Western University, Illinois; Research Fellow at Princeton University; Guest Professor at Rhodes University and Visiting Professor at the Graduate School at the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), Indiana, USA. In 1997 , he became Foundation Professor at the University of Otago, New Zealand. In 1998, he became Executive Head of the School of Liberal Arts within that University. He lived in New Zealand with his family for many years of his life before moving to the UK. On 1 September 2003, he was appointed Rector & Chief Executive of Liverpool Hope University. Pillay has served on editorial boards of two international journals (Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae and Verbum et Ecclesia), has presented papers at numerous international conferences and has served on various public and educational bodies. He has been involved in recent research and  lecturing in Cambridge, Oxford, Pretoria, California, Canada and Munich. Honours. In 2005, he was elected a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (FRSA). Pillay was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to higher education.