HIU Community Celebrates President Joel N. Lohr's Tenure

The HIU community gathered on May 13 to celebrate the seven-year tenure of President Joel N. Lohr, who announced last year that he would be leaving his position at the end of June 2025.

The afternoon event opened with a blessing from Rabbi Michale Pincus and words from Board of Trustees Vice Chair Naseem Shaikh. 

Vice President of Operations Lorraine Ryan and Vice President of Academic Affairs Deena Grant recalled President Lohr's challenges and successes during his tenure, which included the renaming of the institution from Hartford Seminary to Hartford International University for Religion and Peace.

Chief Creative Officer Steven Havira created a surprise video that summarized President Lohr's tenure. It can be viewed below.

Sanford Cloud, former Chair of the Board of Trustees, spoke about the President Lohr Legacy Campaign and encouraged those in attendance to contribute. More information on the campaign can be found at this link, and contributions are still welcome!

President Lohr's wife, Teresa, spoke about the impact HIU has had on his family, including their daughter Aviyah, who moved the crowd with a Tom Petty song that has special meaning to them.

Board Chair Clare Feldman thanked President Lohr for his devotion to HIU and the sacrifices he has made for the institution. She also presented him with a citation from the Connecticut State Senate thanking him for his service. The citation was made at the behest of HIU Ambassador State Sen. Saud Anwar.

Also announced: A walkway linking the HIU main building to the building at 125 Sherman Street, which will house the Howard Thurman Center for Justice and Transformational Ministry, will be named the President Lohr Peace Pathway. President Lohr was instrumental in raising the funds to buy and renovate the building.

President Lohr expressed his immense gratitude and spoke about the important principles that guided him during his tenure.

Godspeed, Joel!