Gerald John Pillay (born 21 December 1953) is a South African theologian and

ecclesiastical historian Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of the ...

. He was

vice chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth countr ...

and rector of

Liverpool Hope University Liverpool Hope University (abbreviated LHU) is a public university with campuses in Liverpool, England. ‌The university grew out of three Normal school#United Kingdom, teacher training colleges: Saint Katharine's College (originally Warring ...

in England from 2003 until the end of 2022.

Early life and education

Pillay was born on 21 December 1953 in Natal in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. His ancestors had come from India to the then British colony of Natal, and he grew up in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

under

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

. He studied at the

University of Durban-Westville The University of Durban-Westville (UDW) was a university situated in Westville, a town situated near Durban, South Africa, which opened in 1972. It is now one of the campuses of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It was initially established for ...

(a university established for

Indian South Africans Indian South Africans are South Africans who descend from indentured labourers and free migrants who arrived from British Raj, British India during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The majority live in and around the city of Durban, making it ...

), graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) degree in 1975, a

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD, DB, or BDiv; ) is an academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies. ...

(BD) degree in 1978, and a

Doctor of Theology Doctor of Theology (, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equivalent to the Doctor o ...

(DTheol) degree in 1985. He also studied philosophical theology at

Rhodes University Rhodes University () is a public research university located in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the prov ...

, graduating with a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(PhD) degree in 1984.

Academic career

After lecturing at the

, he became professor of ecclesiastical history at the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA) is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, UNISA has over 400,000 student ...

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 Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

; guest professor at Rhodes University and visiting professor at the graduate school at the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), Indiana, US. In 1997, he became foundation professor at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

, New Zealand. In 1998, he became executive head of the school of liberal arts within that university. He lived in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

with his family for many years of his life before moving to the UK. 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, Pillay was announced to become the president of the international NGO Initiatives of Change International for three years.

Liverpool Hope University

On 1 September 2003, Pillay was appointed rector of Liverpool Hope University College. He became the first vice chancellor and rector when Liverpool Hope was granted full university status in July 2005. Under his leadership the university changed exponentially, benefitting from substantial investment to become a truly modern institution noted for the quality of its research-informed teaching. In 2009, research degree-awarding powers were granted, with a well-established research culture reflected in the results of the last three Research Excellence Frameworks. In 2017, Hope received Gold status in the Teaching Excellence Framework, and in 2019, Pillay led the celebrations to mark the 175th anniversary of the university’s first college being established. He has also overseen the transformation of Hope’s campuses, which have received significant investment during his tenure. This includes the opening of the Eden Building in 2010, the state-of-the-art Health Sciences building and new sports facilities in 2016, and now the launch of the new IQ Building with its Simulation Laboratory. Pillay also established the Creative Campus in Liverpool city centre, including the opening of the Capstone Building and the addition of a new arts centre, as well as the renovation and expansion of the Grade II-listed Cornerstone Building.

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. In 2009, Pillay was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Merseyside, assisting the Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside in carrying out her role as the Queen’s representative on Merseyside. Pillay was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to higher education.

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pillay, Gerald J 1953 births Living people Deputy lieutenants of Merseyside People from KwaZulu-Natal Rhodes University alumni Academics of Liverpool Hope University 20th-century South African historians University of Durban-Westville alumni Academic staff of the University of South Africa Academic staff of the University of Otago South African emigrants to New Zealand South African emigrants to the United Kingdom Officers of the Order of the British Empire South African people of Indian descent