{"id":62653,"date":"2026-10-30T09:31:40","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T13:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=62653"},"modified":"2026-10-30T09:31:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T13:31:40","slug":"in-memoriam-dr-myron-s-augsburger-put-emu-on-the-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/in-memoriam-dr-myron-s-augsburger-put-emu-on-the-map\/","title":{"rendered":"In Memoriam: Dr. Myron S. Augsburger \u2018put EMU on the map\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As EMU\u2019s president from 1965-80, he transformed the institution into a nationally recognized liberal arts college and seminary<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Myron S. Augsburger BA \u201955, BTh \u201958<\/strong>, a nationally known evangelist, theologian, Mennonite pastor, and prolific author who led EMU as its fifth and youngest president from 1965-80, died on Oct. 15 at age 97. He is remembered by generations of students and colleagues, family members, and friends for his gifts as a speaker and preacher, his passion for leading and engaging with people, and his conservative theology and progressive politics during a turbulent era of war and civil rights activism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Augsburger had lived at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community in Harrisonburg since 2019. A memorial service will be held on Dec. 12 in Lehman Auditorium. Read his obituary here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his 15-year tenure as president of EMU, then known as Eastern Mennonite College and later as Eastern Mennonite College & Seminary, Augsburger oversaw a period of remarkable institutional growth. Enrollment nearly doubled, from 617 students in 1965-66 to 1,088 in 1979-80, as the school expanded its academic programs and campus facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe gave passion to the office,\u201d a description of his presidency<\/a> reads. \u201cDrama, instrumental music, intercollegiate athletics, and international study developed dramatically. Under Augsburger\u2019s leadership, EMC created an innovative, team-taught core curriculum entitled \u2018Christianity and Civilization\u2019 and known as IDS (for Interdisciplinary Studies).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historian Dr. Donald B. Kraybill \u201967<\/strong>, in his centennial history, Eastern Mennonite University: A Century of Countercultural Education<\/em> (The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2017), describes the IDS curriculum as a \u201crare\u201d and \u201cmassive undertaking\u201d that integrated the Christian faith into the liberal arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt proved we were not an educational program with a little religion tacked on the edges like many colleges,\u201d Augsburger said at a presidential forum in 2017<\/a>. \u201cWe had seven courses, each taught by five professors from five disciplines who modeled integrated Christian faith with each discipline and how they overlapped.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Augsburger speaks about the development of the IDS curriculum in the video below. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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