Berkley Center

The Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori is the presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church, elected in June 2006 as the first female primate in the worldwide Anglican Communion. As such she is chief pastor to the Episcopal Church's 2.1 million members in 17 countries and 111 dioceses, and she joins leaders of the other 37 Anglican Provinces in consultation for global good and reconciliation. Jefferts Schori's career as an oceanographer preceded her studies for the priesthood, to which she was ordained in 1994. She then served as a priest, university lecturer, and hospice chaplain in Oregon before being elected bishop in the Diocese of Nevada in 2000. She holds a B.S. from Stanford University, an M.S. and Ph.D. from Oregon State University, an M.Div. from Church Divinity School of the Pacific, and several honorary doctoral degrees.