Obituary Professor Ogbu Uke Kalu (June 2, 1942–January 7, 2009)
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Journal of Religion in Africa 39 (2009) 360-361 brill.nl/jra Obituary Professor Ogbu Uke Kalu (June 2, 1942–January 7, 2009) Professor Ogbu U. Kalu, a member of the Board of the Journal of Religion in Africa for a number of years, passed away unexpectedly in early 2009. Professor Kalu’s life spanned many important eras in his native Nigeria’s his- tory. Born in Ohafi a (now in Abia State) in the midst of World War II when Nigeria was still a colony of Great Britain, Solomon Ogbu U. Kalu received his early education in that town and later (1955-61) at the famous Hope Wad- dell Training Institute in Calabar. It is perhaps signifi cant that HWTI was a legacy of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Presbyterian missionaries to Nigeria since their work would spur Kalu’s interest and subsequent scholar- ship in African Christianity. At around the same time that Nigeria received its fi nal independence from the U.K. and joined the Commonwealth, Kalu left Nigeria for university in Canada, studying history at McMaster University and the University of Toronto, where he earned his Ph.D. in that subject in 1970. Since the Biafran civil war was raging in and around his hometown, the young Ph.D. studied in the United Kingdom, then came to the United States to take a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton University in 1974. Th e end of the war enabled Kalu to return to Nigeria, where he took a lectureship in the Department of Religious Studies at the revived University of Nigeria at Nsukka, becoming a professor of church history in 1978. Although he took numerous trips abroad for conferences, to pursue his research and to further his education (he received the Doctor of Divinity honoris causa in 1997 from the Presbyterian College of McGill University), Professor Kalu was based in Nsukka until 2001, by which time he had become a capable and trusted administrator as well as a beloved professor. In 2001, after almost thirty years of service to Nigerian academe, Professor Kalu took the fi rst Henry Winters Luce Professor of World Christianity and Mission Chair at the McCormick Th eological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois. Professor Kalu’s earliest research was on Protestant religious practice in Jacobean England, although he soon turned to the study of missionization and Christianity in Nigeria and Africa more generally. Th e epitome of © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2009 DOI: 10.1163/157006609X452294 Obituary / Journal of Religion in Africa 39 (2009) 360-361 361 the prolifi c scholar, Kalu was the author of more than fi fteen books and over 150 articles in journals and edited volumes. Some of his most recent books include the important survey work African Pentecostalism: An Introduction (2008), Clio in Sacred Garb: Christian Presence and African Responses, 1900- 2000 (2008) and African Christianity: An African Story (2005). Many of his articles have been reprinted widely and are well known to the Africanist schol- arly community. Besides publication, however, Professor Kalu was also a won- derful mentor for numerous younger scholars (the present writer included) with an interest in religion on the continent. He gave generously of his time, his vast knowledge of African religious practice and sometimes even more materially to youthful academics just beginning their careers. He also took an active part in all the professional duties that soak up so much of a truly engaged scholar’s life: editing journals, writing reviews, sitting on scholarly boards like that of the JRA, organizing conferences and giving lectures. Finally, one must note the two parts of Ogbu Kalu’s life outside of academe that were most important to him: his family and his church. Ogbu U. Kalu was an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church in Nigeria and held several offi ces in that church organization. He also served on many theological boards with a special interest in African Christianity, and he maintained an active membership in a progressive church community in Chicago during his seven years there. He is survived by his wife Professor Wilhelmina Kalu, their four accomplished and professional children, and many siblings and other kin in Ohafi a. He will be sorely missed not only by his family and church communities but by his academic community, including the Board and read- ers of this journal. As Nigerians often say on such occasions: May his soul rest in perfect peace. Misty L. Bastian Department of Anthropology Franklin & Marshall College PO Box 3003 Lancaster, PA 17604-3003 U. S. A..