Barbara Brown Zikmund (sometimes known as BBZ) (born 1939) is an American historian of religion.

Biography

Barbara Brown Zikmund is 1961 graduate of

Beloit College Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin. Founded in 1846, when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and has ...

. Zikmund married Joseph Zikmund in 1961, and with him has one son. In 1964 she was ordained as a minister in the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximately 4 ...

, the same year in which she received a

Woodrow Wilson Fellowship The Institute for Citizens & Scholars (formerly known as the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation) is a nonpartisan, non-profit based in Princeton, New Jersey that aims to strengthen American democracy by “cultivating the talent, ideas, ...

; in 1969, she received her PhD from

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

. Much of her research has focused on the role in American religious life played by ordained women; other of her work has been done on the history of the United Church of Christ. She was coauthor of ''Clergy Women'', published in 1998, a study on the role of women in clergy. She also served as the editor for a history of the United Church of Christ in seven volumes, titled ''The Living Theological Heritage of the United Church of Christ'' and published from 1995 until 2005. As a facilitator of interfaith relations, Zikmund was a member of the Interfaith Relations Committee of the

National Council of Churches The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, usually identified as the National Council of Churches (NCC), is the largest ecumenical body in the United States. NCC is an ecumenical partnership of 38 Christian faith groups in the Uni ...

, in which role she served from 1991 until 2007; seven of those years, she spent as chair of the committee. From 1981, she was academic dean at the

Pacific School of Religion The Pacific School of Religion (PSR) is a private Protestant seminary in Berkeley, California. It maintains covenantal relationships with the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, and the Disciples of Christ, ensuring the schoo ...

; from the latter year until 2000, she was president of

Hartford Seminary The Hartford International University for Religion and Peace (formerly Hartford Seminary) is a private theological university in Hartford, Connecticut. History Hartford Seminary's origins date back to 1833 when the Pastoral Union of Connecti ...

. She was also the first woman to serve as president of the Association of Theological Schools of the United States and Canada, from 1986 until 1988; from 1984 to 1992, she was on the World Council of Churches Programme for Theological Education. Later in her career Zikmund taught in Japan; she has also been a visiting scholar at the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

and at

Wesley Theological Seminary Wesley Theological Seminary is a United Methodist Church seminary in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1882. History Wesley Theological Seminary can trace its roots back to the 1881 meeting of the Methodist Protestant Church's Maryland Annua ...

. Zikmund has also served as an alumna trustee at Beloit College, which awarded her its 25th Reunion Award in 1986. Her papers are held by the library of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zikmund, Barbara Brown 1939 births Living people American women historians American historians of religion 20th-century American historians 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American historians 21st-century American women writers United Church of Christ ministers Women Christian clergy Beloit College alumni Duke University alumni Hartford Seminary faculty Presidents of the American Society of Church History