Seminary elects new trustees

At the annual meeting of Hartford Seminary on May 23, the Corporators elected four new trustees and affirmed the appointment of Dr. Timur Yuskaev as a faculty trustee. Here are biographies of each of the new trustees.

Christel Ford Berry is an attorney and financial consultant with Ford Berry Associates in Hartford. From 1981 to 1984, before she started her own business, she was Associate Attorney with the Shipman & Goodwin law firm and with the Hebb & Gitlin law firm, both in Hartford. She received a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from Barnard College. Christel is a Trustee of Westfield State University and serves on the Professional Advisory Board of the Hartford Foundation of Public Giving. She is a member of the Boards of the Connecticut Bar Foundation and The Fund for Greater Hartford. Christel is a member of First Cathedral in Bloomfield and lives in Hartford.

Imam Dr. Salahuddin M. Muhammad is a Muslim Chaplain for the New York State Department of Correctional Services. He spends a great deal of time on the lecture circuit teaching Islam and has been an adjunct professor for Mercy and Marist Colleges. A student of Islam since 1964, Salahuddin is registered and certified as an Imam by the National Association of Muslim Chaplains. He is the spiritual leader of Masjid Al Ikhlas (The Islamic Learning Center of Orange County), located in Newburgh, New York. Salahuddin has a Doctor of Ministry from Hartford Seminary, a Masters degree in Theology and Counseling from New York Theological Seminary, and a Bachelor's degree in the Social Sciences from the State University of New York at New Paltz.  He also has received a Graduate Certificate in Islamic Chaplaincy from Hartford Seminary. Salahuddin is particularly interested in bridging the gap between the academic and religious lives of Muslim students. He lives in Beacon, N.Y.

Sydney A. Perry is the Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven and the Jewish Community Center of New Haven. Previously she was Associate Executive Director of the Federation and Director of the Department of Jewish Education, the educational arm of the Federation. Nationally, she has been called upon to give workshops in various settings. An honors graduate of Smith College, Sydney pursued graduate work at Hartford Seminary. She has taught Rabbinics and Bible at Ezra Academy in Woodbridge, CT. Sydney has been nominated for national awards for educational initiatives and serves on committees of the Jewish Educational Society of North America and Bureau Directors Fellowship. She has received the Eisner Educators’ Award for community service, the Gan School’s Pillar of the Community Award, Ezra Academy’s Distinguished Leader Award, and the Brandeis University Award, This year she will be honored by the New Haven Jewish Historical Society. Sydney is a member of the Westville Synagogue in New Haven and lives in New Haven.

James K. Robertson Jr. is a senior partner with the Carmody & Torrance law firm in Waterbury, CT. During his thirty years of experience as a trial lawyer, Jim has tried many cases, in a wide range of subjects, in both state and federal courts. He is also frequently selected as an arbitrator and mediator.  Jim is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates. In 2009, Connecticut Magazine named him to its “Top 10 Connecticut Super Lawyer” list. This is Jim’s second stint on the Seminary Board; he was vice chair from 2006 to 2009. Jim was chair of the Connecticut Humanities Council from 2006 to 2008, president of the University of Connecticut School of Law Foundation from 2004 to 2005, and chair of the Connecticut Judicial Selection Commission from 1996 to 1998. Jim is a member of First Congregational Church of Watertown. He is moderator of the national synod of the United Church of Christ, which will take place in Tampa, FL, in July. Jim earned a J.D., with honors, from the University of Connecticut School of Law, an M.A. from Hartford Seminary, and a B.A., cum laude, from Yale University. He lives in Watertown, CT.

Dr. Timur Yuskaev is Assistant Professor of Contemporary Islam and Director of the Islamic Chaplaincy Program at Hartford Seminary. His academic home is the Seminary’s Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations. Timur also is associate editor of the Muslim World journal. Previously, Timur was an instructor and teaching assistant at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Colorado at Boulder as well as an adjunct faculty at St. Francis College, New York City. From 1999 to 2005, he served as coordinator of educational programs at the Interfaith Center of New York. He directed the Muslims in New York Civic Life Project, funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York. He has a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina, an M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Colorado and a B.A. from Bard College. Timur’s areas of specialization include Qur'anic Studies, Anthropology of the Qur'an, Qur'anic Hermeneutics, Islamic homiletics, Muslim Modernities, Islam in North America, and American and African-American religious history. Among his publications are several entries for the Encyclopedia of Muslim-American History and a chapter, “Training Teachers in American Religious Diversity,” published in Building the Interfaith Youth Movement. He lives in Glastonbury, CT.