Following a long career as a religious studies professor, 82-year-old Jaak Seynaeve, or “Father Jaak,” will close out his tenure at the University.
Seynaeve, a New Testament scholar and a native of Belgium, is retiring from a regular class schedule.
Seynaeve was the first chair of the religious studies program at the University. He holds a doctorate from Leuven University in Belgium and was a theology faculty president of Zaire’s Kinshasa University.
Though Seynaeve will be retiring, those close to him said he will continue to do good work.
“He’s still going strong,” said Edward Henderson, the philosophy and religious studies chair. “In lieu of the class he would be teaching this semester, we will have these lectures.”
The lectures are scheduled for the month of November and will focus on the gospel of John.
The priest will give four of the lectures, and Wilfried Ver Eecke, a philosophy professor from Georgetown University, will deliver the final lecture.
St. Alban’s Chapel already hosted two of the five lectures. The University will hold the remaining lectures at Christ the King Catholic Church and Student Center Tuesday, Nov. 19 and Nov. 24, at 7:30 p.m.