The Rev. Dr. Jan Carlsson-Bull ’69 says her education at Union Theological Seminary provided her with a “commitment to faith-based justice work, extraordinary role models, and deep friendships.” In gratitude for her education and her career as a minister, she is making a gift in her will that will establish a fund in her name.
“My hope is that it helps other students to come to Union,” Jan says. “And I would also like part of my gift to help update the Seminary buildings and infrastructure.” She says she chose to make a bequest because it was “very straightforward and easy for me to accomplish.”
Jan grew up in Iowa and earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at the University of Colorado in 1964. She then came to Union, attracted by Rev. William Sloane Coffin and the appeal of New York City. As a student-activist she was involved with social justice organizations and the Columbia University uprisings of the 1960s. Her first husband, Russell Flesher, was also a student at UTS; he died in Vietnam in 1968.
Jan went on to earn a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University and was a Unitarian Universalist minister for 22 years. Now retired, she and husband Daniel N. Bull live in Connecticut; they have three children and three grandchildren.
She contributes annually to the UTS Annual Fund and her Class Gift, participated in 50th ReUnion events last year, and has written articles for the Union Collective. She urged other alumni/ae to consider gifts “if Union is part of your soul history.”