William Placher

PEORIA - William C. Placher, 60, of Crawfordsville, Ind., formerly of Peoria, died Sunday, Nov. 30, 2008, in his temporary residence in Collegeville, Minn.

He was born in Peoria, Ill., on April 28, 1948, to Carl and Louise Placher. He was preceded in death by his parents.

Placher was the LaFollette Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at Wabash College. He graduated first in his class from Peoria High School, where he was a National Merit Scholar. He attended Wabash College, from which he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and from which he graduated summa cum laude in 1970. He received a Danforth Graduate Fellowship to continue his studies at Yale University. He earned his master's degree in philosophy in 1974, and his Ph.D. in philosophical theology in 1975.

Placher returned to his alma mater to teach philosophy and religion in 1975, and had taught at Wabash for 34 years.

In 2002, the American Academy of Religion named him the best teacher in the country, honoring him with the Excellence in Teaching Award. He received the McLain-McTurnan Award for Excellence in Teaching at Wabash in 1980. In 2006, the Indiana Humanities Council honored him with the Indiana Humanities Award for his teaching, scholarship and collegiality. In 1995, the National Association of Wabash Men presented him with its highest honor, the Alumni Award of Merit.

Placher was a member and elder of the Wabash Avenue Presbyterian Church in Crawfordsville.

He was the author of 13 books, including the well-regarded books "A History of Christian Theology," "Unapologetic Theology," "Narratives of a Vulnerable God," "The Domestication of Transcendence," "Jesus the Savior" and "The Triune God." He also edited the textbook, Essentials of Christian Theology, which was honored by both Christian Century and Christianity Today. He gave more than 40 invited lectures and was the author of literally dozens of essays, articles and reviews.

Placher chaired the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Wabash from 1996 to 2002. He was also the chair of the Advisory Committee of the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, was an editor at large of Christian Century, and, with Amy Plantinga Pauw, one of the two editorial consultants for Westminster John Knox Press' forthcoming 36-volume Theological Commentary on the Bible.

Placher used his sabbatical leaves to teach elsewhere. He was a visiting scholar in the Religious Studies Department at Stanford in 1980-81; a visiting professor of religion at Haverford College in 1985; a member of the Center of Theological Inquiry at Princeton in 1987-88 and 1994-95; and was a senior fellow at the Martin Marty Center for the Advanced Study of Religion at the University of Chicago in 2001-02. At the time of his death, he was serving a one-year appointment as the Kilian McDonnell Writer-in-Residence at the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research at St. John's University.

Placher served Wabash in literally dozens of capacities. He directed the Great Lakes Colleges Association Aberdeen Scotland study-abroad program for three years, and served as chair of the advisory committee for the program for decades. He was elected to serve on the 1988 Presidential Search Committee for Wabash, and twice served as the faculty visitor to the Wabash College Board of Trustees. He was the secretary of the Wabash chapter of Phi Beta Kappa from 1989 to 1995.

A memorial service for Bill Placher will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008, in the Pioneer Chapel at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind.. A reception will follow in the Sparks Center.

Pursuant to Dr. Placher's wishes, memorial contributions may be made in his name to Wabash College, c/o Advancement Office, P.O. Box 352, Crawfordsville, IN 47933.