Biography
He was a graduate of the University of Southern California in 1913 and of the Boston University School of Theology in 1915. He served as a Pastor for many years, including of a large Los Angeles church. He then served as a Professor of Social Ethics at Boston University.
He was accused of being a communist by Donald L. Jackson and went before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities.
He became the President of DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana in 1928. As President he achieved a high level of national and international recognition, bringing DePauw unprecedented public attention. He stepped down as President upon his election as Bishop.
In 1958, Bishop Oxnam was successful in helping to found the School of International Service (SIS) at American University, the national Methodist university in Washington, D.C. In that effort, Oxnam was able to convince the General Conference of The Methodist Church to contribute over $1 million for the school's creation. The founding of the SIS was part of a vision held by Oxnam to create an academic institution "pledged to the study, proclamation and practice of the principles of freedom and the maintenance of civil, economic, and religious liberty by training competent and consecrated men and women for the international service of the state, the community and the church."
Bishop Oxnam was also responsible for the relocation of Westminster Theological Seminary from Westminster, Maryland to a location in Washington, D.C. on land belonging to American University. Once relocated, the seminary was renamed Wesley Theological Seminary.
After Oxnam's death in 1963, his ashes were interred at Wesley Seminary in the chapel that bears his name.
His son, Robert Fisher Oxnam, was also president of a Methodist-founded university, Drew University, from 1961 to 1974.
Read more about this topic: Garfield Bromley Oxnam
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