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Distinguished Alums of the Year

Rev. Karen Yee is the
2023-24 Alum of the Year

Rev. Karen Yee is Senior Pastor at New Life Christian Fellowship, Castro Valley and is the English-speaking pastor at the Iu-Mienh Friendship Baptist Church in Richmond. She graduated in 1997 from Berkeley School of Theology with her Master’s of Divinity. Among her many accomplishments, she is on the Executive Board of Directors for the American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS), and a liaison to the Office of the General Secretary. She served as a Trustee for Rainbow Acres, a community for developmentally challenged adults and as the Treasurer of the Executive Council of the Ministers Council of the Greater Bay Area. She was part of the Convener of the Missionary Partnership Team for Ingrid Roldan-Roman, an AB missionary serving in Panama. For 15 years, Rev. Yee was the Associate Pastor at the First Baptist Church of Alameda, an American Baptist church, serving a multi-ethnic, intergenerational congregation of Christ followers, and also served as an active lay leader at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco.

Since 1981, alums of the Berkeley School of Theology have been selected for their excellence in ministry and support of the Seminary to receive the Distinguished Alum of the Year Award (formerly the Alumnus/a of the Year Award). Previous award winners include:

2022 Celinda Miranda

2020 Kenneth Van Bik  

2019 Diane Hooge  

2018 Michael-Ray Mathews  

2017 Kathryn Choy-Wong  

2013 Florence Li  

2005 Jan and Myron Chartier  

2003 William Cline  

2002 Sharon Rose Joy Ruiz-Duremdes  

2001 David W. Roberts  

2000 Marvin Friesen  

1999 Gillette O. James  

1998 Emil J. Authelet  

1997 James E. Conklin  

1996 William Edward Calbert  

1995 Everett W. Curry, Jr.

1994 William Sutterlin  

1993 Marilyn Marston  

1992 James Chuck  

1991 Emory Campbell  

1990 James H. Stewart  

1989 Glenn “Jerry” Gano  

1988 John E. Skoglund  

1987 John Townsend  

1986 Violet Rudd  

1985 David Van Bik  

1984 John “Bud” Carroll  

1983 Linnea A. Nelson  

1982 J Palmer Watson  

1981 A Stanley MacNair 

Nominations for the 2023 award will be hosted until Friday, September 15, 2023Anyone is welcome to submit a nomination! This could be a congregant, colleague, faculty, fellow volunteer, or another alum. Simply fill out the nomination form below, and within 24 business hours, you will receive a confirmation email from the BST Alumni office. Thank you for your time and submission!

2023 Alum of the Year Nominations

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