Dunlop, Ralph G. (Ralph Gordon), 1915-1995
Dates
- Existence: 1915-1995
Biography
Ralph G. Dunlop was born August 31, 1915 in Mason City, Iowa. He studied at Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, from 1933 to 1934 and received a B. A. from the University of Illinois in 1939. Three years later he earned an M. Div. from the Divinity School of Yale University. In 1948 he did post-graduate work at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University. Dunlop was also granted an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Illinois Wesleyan University, 1962. His major research interests were New Testament theology, Biblical literature, and religion and higher education.
After completing his theological training, Dunlop took a position as associate minister and director of Christian education at the First Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1942-1945. While in Michigan he also served as the minister of the First Methodist Church, Belleville, 1945-1948. Dunlop's other professional positions include college chaplain and instructor in philosophy and religion, Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, 1948-1950, and associate director of The Wesley Foundation at the University of Illinois Champaign—Urbana, 1950-1955.
Dunlop became the University Chaplain at Northwestern University in 1955. Beginning in 1956 he served concurrently as visiting professor in higher education at Garrett Biblical Institute, Evanston. In 1961 he became an associate professor of the History and Literature of Religions at Northwestern. From 1955 to 1961 he was also Northwestern's Foreign Student Advisor. Dunlop retired from the University Chaplaincy in August, 1973.
Dunlop was very active outside his role as University Chaplain. He was a member of the American Civil Liberties Union and of the Chicago—area committee of clergymen that went to Selma, Alabama in 1965 to demonstrate their support for the cause of racial integration and the freedom marches. Dunlop was a founding trustee of the Ecumenical Institute of Evanston, a member of the Evanston Citizens Commission on Integration of Schools, 1965-1967, trustee of Kendall College of Evanston, and a president of the National Association of College and University Chaplains, 1962-1969.