Neil W. Gerdes
Neil has been the librarian and a professor at Meadville Lombard since 1973, and since 1980 has held a shared appointment with the Chicago Theological Seminary in the same positions. He is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, an active member of the First Unitarian Church of Chicago for 30 years, and in more recent years of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic parish as well. Neil is on several boards and has served as an officer in numerous organizations including the ACTS Librarians Council, both the local and continental Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association, and since 1975 as coordinator of Collegium: An Association of Liberal Religious Scholars.

"For me my most meaningful and profound learning has come from the pages of books, often guided by great teachers. For me the most critical task of theological education is the spiritual formation of men and women into ministers. Thus my job of providing the best theological libraries I can and of teaching spritual direction whenever possible has been one of my life's primary pleasures and commitments."