Gerald Pillay

Gerald John Pillay OBE DL FRSA (born 21 December 1953) is a South African theologian and ecclesiastical historian. He was Vice Chancellor and Rector of Liverpool Hope University in England since 2003 until the end of 2022.

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 head of Liverpool Hope University College. He became the first vice chancellor when Liverpool Hope was granted full university status in July 2005.

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.

In September 2021, Gerald Pillay was announced to become the president of the international NGO Initiatives of Change International for 3 years.

Honours

In 2005, he was elected a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (FRSA).

In 2013, he was presented with an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Hope College.

Pillay was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to higher education.

Selected works

• Pillay, G. J. (1994). Religion at the limits?: Pentecostalism among Indian South Africans (1st ed.). Pretoria: University of South Africa. ISBN 9780869818558.
• Hofmeyr, J. W.; Pillay, Gerald J., eds. (1994). A History of Christianity in South Africa: Volume 1. Pretoria: HAUM Tertiary. ISBN 9780798632287.