Rev. Dr. Larry Ulrich is an interfaith environmental ethicist. He is a past Secretary of the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago, which self-identifies as the oldest urban interfaith organization in the United States and represents over five million believers. The Council Members represent eight faith traditions—Bahá’í, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Sikhism, and Zoroastrianism. Dr. Ulrich is a member of the Interfaith Relations Commission, the Justice and Advocacy Commission, and the Eco-Justice Program of the National Council of Churches. He serves as one of seven Christians on the National Muslim-Christian Initiative, and he a member of the NCC Jewish-Christian Dialogue. An advisor to the Commissioner of the Environment in Chicago, he is an Interfaith Fellow of GreenFaith, a national foundation for interfaith environmental academic and advocacy engagement.

An experiential and academic educator in both medical and theological education, Dr. Ulrich is the first Protestant minister since the Reformation to serve as a Dean in a Roman Catholic Seminary, DeAndreis Institute of Theology. Professor of Medical Ethics at Rush Medical College, Rush University, and Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, he was Director of the Departments of Religion and Health at the Rush University Medical Center and the University of Chicago Hospitals. Dr. Ulrich has been a Visiting Professor or Scholar at Oxford University, Cambridge University, University of Edinburgh, All Hallows College (Dublin), The Sorbonne, Chaing Mai University (Thailand), and an Adjunct Professor at The Chicago Theological Seminary and Bethany Theological Seminary.   

Historical Documentation and Future Planning for the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago

Dr. Ulrich’s affiliate project included five main objectives, as a starting point for further planning and collaboration:

• Reconstructing the development of the Council over the past twenty-five years through a historical investigation,
• Identifying the major justice and advocacy efforts undertaken by the Council as initiated interventions and/or position statements,
• Documenting the Council’s organizational processes as the Council expands interfaith relationships with new members from different faith heritages,
• Supporting interfaith dialogue, engagement, and expansion within the highly diverse religious and cultural dynamics in current American society, and
• Continuing a cooperative stance with multiple, social, governmental, and independent agencies and organizations in Chicago to confront, responsibly and together, community injustices and to promote a more compassionate culture.

Selected Links and Publications

• Website: Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago
• Press Release: "Dr. Larry Ulrich - First Protestant Dean in a Roman Catholic Seminary," via Religion News Service (September 17, 2013)