Dr. Walter Earl Fluker to Receive Honorary Degree from Boston University

Dr. Walter Earl Fluker, Distinguished Professor of the Howard Thurman Center at Hartford International University for Religion & Peace, will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Boston University during commencement ceremonies planned for May 16-19.

Dr. Fluker is a BU graduate (1988) and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Ethical Leadership at Boston University, as well as the editor of the Howard Thurman Papers Project.

As part of the weekend festivities, Dr. Fluker will deliver the Baccalaureate Address before the commencement ceremony.

Boston University's website offers this tribute to Dr. Fluker:

"Walter Earl Fluker (GRS’88) is a well-known figure in the theory and practice of ethical leadership. Dr. Fluker holds the position of Distinguished Professor of the Howard Thurman Center at Hartford International University for Religion & Peace and previously served as Dean’s Professor of Spirituality, Ethics, and Leadership at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. At Morehouse College, he was the founding director of the Andrew Young Center for Global Leadership and the Coca-Cola Professorship of Leadership Studies. He is a Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Ethical Leadership at Boston University and the editor of the Howard Thurman Papers Project. During his tenure at BU, he developed an acclaimed online course titled Ethical Leadership: Character, Civility, and Community. His organization, Walter Earl Fluker & Associates, Inc., continues to advance this mission.

"A sought-after consultant, speaker, and workshop leader, Dr. Fluker has shared his expertise at various institutions and organizations worldwide. Recently, he was honored with the 2023 Roosevelt Institute’s Four Freedoms Award of Worship, along with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, the late activist Ady Barkan, Congressman Bennie Thompson, and former Executive Director of the American Library Association Tracie D. Hall.

"Dr. Fluker is a prolific author, with notable works including Ethical Leadership: The Quest for Character, Civility, and Community (2009) and The Ground Has Shifted: The Future of the Black Church in Post-Racial America (2016). He also edited the five-volume documentary edition The Papers of Howard Washington Thurman, the four-volume Walking with God: The Sermon Series of Howard Thurman (2020–2023), and The Unfinished Search for Common Ground (2023).

"He earned a BA in philosophy and biblical studies from Trinity College, an MDiv from Garrett-Evangelical Seminary, and a PhD in social ethics from BU. He holds an honorary Doctor of Humanities from Lees-McRae College."

Congratulations, Walter!