CST Creates First Chair in Pacific and Asian American Theology

Celebrating the 90th birthday of Bishop Roy I. Sano, the Claremont School of Theology community gathered in June to honor the episcopal leader and his late wife, Kathleen A. Thomas-Sano, and to create an endowed chair in Pacific and Asian American theology — the first of its kind.

By intentionally recognizing the continued contributions of Pacific and Asian American theologians through an endowed chair, CST honors the couple’s legacy and advances this field of study in new ways, attracting religion leaders and budding scholars to the school.

Bishop Sano, who retired 20 years ago, made history in 1984 when he was elected as United Methodism’s first Japanese American bishop. Throughout his tenure, he organized and advocated for the rights of marginalized communities and for the full participation of all people in the life of The United Methodist Church. Mrs. Thomas-Sano was passionate about justice, serving as a consultant on racism, multiculturalism, inclusiveness, cross-cultural ministries, mediation, and diversity.

During the celebration, the Rev. Patricia Farris, CST board chair and senior minister of First UMC, Santa Monica, California, said Sano and Thomas-Sano enriched the life of the school and of The United Methodist Church across generations. “Never content to let the church be less than what God requires or promises,” Farris noted, “they pushed and prodded and invited us into new creations of justice, compassion, and joy.”

California-Pacific Annual Conference Bishop Grant J. Hagiya described Sano as a mentor. “As a youth and young adult,” Hagiya said, “he was the role model that we looked up to and followed. As a teenager, the very first time I served as a liturgist in Sunday worship, Roy was the pastor. He got me through that and has been there ever since in my life. His stature in the academic and church world paved the way for generations to follow.”

JoAnn Yoon Fukumoto of Trinity UMC, Pearl City, Hawaii, recalled moments when Sano served alongside her “in the trenches” – assisting with cleanup after floods ravaged Elwood, Kansas, in 1993; learning, observing, and witnessing about the immigration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border; and laboring beside farmworkers and gleaning cabbage for hungry families.

In his remarks, Sano noted the important role of his late wife, a third-generation Korean American and Hawaiian native, who died in 2016.

“President Kuan wanted Kathy named in the endowment,” Sano said, “because he remembers how supportive she was to him when he worked on race relations in the California-Nevada Conference, just as Kathy promoted the aspirations of Pacific Islanders through the years. Kathy is also named in the endowment because she created a safe space for students, faculty, and pastors at the office of the Pacific and Asian American Center for Theology and Strategies, Pacific School of Religion.” 

He voiced delight that Dr. Grace Yia-Hei Kao will be the endowed chair’s first occupant. A professor of ethics, she was the first person of Taiwanese descent to earn tenure at CST.

Directing his comments toward Kao, he said, “You and your generation of Asian American scholars, especially among women in their publications, have taken us light years ahead from the beginning of Pacific and Asian theologies in the 1970s.” 

Sano also mentioned three Asian American administrators in theological education. 

“The first two,” he said, “were immigrants who started as students, became faculty, and rose to an administrative position in a single generation. One is President Jeffrey Kuan, who came from Malaysia of Chinese cultural ancestry. His bold and imaginative leadership inspires us all, regardless of our vocations. The second is Dr. Mai-Ahn Le Tran, once Dr. Kuan’s student at Pacific School of Religion. Mai-Ahn and her family were among the boat people who left Vietnam and were settled in Camp Pendleton, California. Dr. Tran is now the vice president and dean at Garrett Evangelical Seminary, Evanston, Illinois. The third is Dr. Frank Yamada, executive director of the Association Theological Schools in North America. 

“Such are the exciting developments in theological education promoted with Pacific and Asian perspectives which the CST endowed chair is joining.”

Over the next three years, Claremont School of Theology seeks to raise $3 million to endow the chair. For information, contact CST director of donor stewardship and database management, Dmitri Potemkin, via email (dpotemkin@cst.edu) or phone (760-494-7752). To make a gift or monthly pledge, visit: cst.networkforgood.com/projects/130956-sano-endowed-chair-in-pacific-and-asian-american-theology.