2026 Special Awards + Honors
Each year at commencement, Wartburg Theological Seminary honors individuals whose lives embody faithful leadership, courageous vocation, and enduring service to the church and the world. Through the Living Loehe Award and the honorary Doctor of Divinity (D.D.), Honoris Causa, the seminary recognizes those whose witness is shaped not only by what they have accomplished, but by how they have lived—serving neighbor, strengthening community, and reflecting the gospel in word and action.
These honors are a celebration of calling made visible over a lifetime, and a reminder that theological education continues far beyond the classroom—in congregations, communities, workplaces, and daily life.
Marty Haugen
The Honorary Doctor of Divinity
the contribution of Marty Haugen to the worship life of the church, particularly the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is an ongoing testament to a life dedicated to the proclamation and celebration of the Word of God.
Mr. Haugen grew up in a small community in southern Minnesota, where he studied piano, organ, violin and trombone, learned to play guitar and, as a teenager, served as organist at the Lutheran church his family attended in Zumbrota, Minnesota. He accepted his first full-time job as a liturgical musician at a Roman Catholic parish in 1972 and soon began writing his own liturgical music. Struck by the poor singing and poor compositions that he witnessed, Haugen was inspired to write music that better served the worshiping community. Writing music that supports the text is a longstanding commitment that stems from his appreciation for the Lutheran theological tradition.
Twenty of Haugen’s songs and one setting of Holy Communion (Setting Two) can be found within Evangelical Lutheran Worship, and seven other entries are included within All Creation Sings. Some of his earliest compositions, such as Holden Evening Prayer, “Shepherd Me, O God,” “Healer of Our Every Ill,” and Now the Feast and Celebration, were also found in With One Voice and are still sung with great regularity. Haugen’s compositions have given voice to a generation of Lutheran faithful, offering a vision of God that is inclusive and embracing. His music invites worshipers into relationship with God in and through their relationship with one another.
Musically, his compositions are accessible across a range of instruments, equally at home with piano and guitar as with organ and brass, thereby bridging diverse musical preferences within congregations. Many of his works also encourage dialogical singing between different members of the assembly. While Haugen’s compositions are staples in Lutheran worship, pieces such as “Gather Us In” and “Healer of Our Every Ill” also appear in Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Presbyterian, United Methodist, Mennonite and Disciples of Christ hymnals. The unity expressed in his lyrics and musical form finds tangible expression in its ecumenical reach.
Marty Haugen earned his Bachelor of Arts from Luther College in 1973, and his Master of Arts from the University of St. Thomas in 1999. He has received many awards and citations including the Distinguished Alumnus Award, University of St. Thomas, 1995; the Distinguished Service Award, Luther College, 1997; and an award from The Georgetown Center for Liturgy, for Contributions to Liturgical Life of the Church, 2004.
Haugen is a member of Creekside United Church of Christ in Minneapolis, and he and his wife Linda have two children and five grandchildren.
Wartburg Theological Seminary gives thanks to God for Marty Haugen, and for all the ways in which he serves the church and the world. The faculty and the Board of Directors of Wartburg Theological Seminary count it a privilege to bestow upon him the Degree Doctor of Divinity, Honoris Causa, with all the privileges and responsibilities which pertain to that degree. Marty Haugen, may God grant you grace and blessings on your continued ministry.
Bishop Tracey Breashears Schultz
The Honorary Doctor of Divinity
The Rev. Dr. Tracey Breashears Schultz was elected on May 17, 2025 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, May 16-17, at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Prior to her election, Bishop Schultz had served as the Bishop’s Associate for Leadership in the Gulf Coast Synod since 2019. Before being called to the synod office, she served as pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Houston from 2012 to 2019, and as associate pastor of MacArthur Park Lutheran Church in San Antonio from 2007 to 2012.
Bishop Schultz earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 1995; a Master of Divinity from Wartburg Theological Seminary in
Dubuque, Iowa, in 2007; and a Doctor of Ministry from the Lutheran School of Theology at
Chicago (LSTC) in 2014. Before her journey toward ordination, she was a Spanish teacher, and prior to that, she was a trainer for a medical software company.
Bishop Schultz came to the Lutheran church through the ministry of a hospital chaplain who cared for her and her family after the untimely death of her first husband. She herself has experienced the comfort and promise of the Lutheran articulation of the gospel, and in response, she so clearly articulates the gifts of Lutheran theology to others.
Highly relational and committed to working together in partnership, Bishop Schultz is a leader who listens, learns and cares deeply about the good news of Jesus Christ, and the baptismal call of all Christians to serve the neighbor and the stranger. She leads the Gulf Coast Synod with grace, warmth and vision.
Her husband, Chris Schultz, is an accomplished architect and life-long Lutheran. He divides his time between their home in Idylwood (east of downtown Houston) and his firm in San Antonio.
Wartburg Theological Seminary gives thanks to God for Bishop Tracey Breashears
Schultz, and for all the ways in which she serves the church and the world. The faculty and the Board of Directors of Wartburg Theological Seminary count it a privilege to bestow upon her the Degree Doctor of Divinity, Honoris Causa, with all the privileges and responsibilities which pertain to that degree. Bishop Schultz, may God grant you grace and blessings on your continued ministry.
Bill Link
The Living Loehe Award
William J. Link is an icon of Christian service and witness. He began his work at Wartburg Theological Seminary on February 10, 1986, shortly after marrying his beloved wife, Jean. In his acceptance letter, he wrote, “I will do my best to fulfill my duties.” In the 40+ years since signing that letter, Bill Link has more than lived up to that commitment. During the decades of his service at Wartburg Seminary, Superintendent for Maintenance Bill and Jean have raised their family, including three children and four grandchildren, cultivated his family farm, and have been active members of their Catholic congregation.
Wartburg Seminary’s commitment to the holistic formation of students is centered in the classroom, but includes other important para-curricular activities as well, such as chapel. For our residential students, this formation also can include various on-campus jobs, and one of those jobs is working in maintenance and facilities. Bill Link has supervised four decades of student workers in a variety of roles; in this way, he has played a crucial role in shaping the pastoral identity of these fortunate students. Lessons of hard work, listening well, punctuality, planning, paying attention to detail, teamwork, accountability, and Christian charity were Bill’s unspoken curriculum.
It happens every year: alumni return to campus for reunions, and one of the first persons they seek out is Bill Link. They tell stories of what they learned from Bill about being a servant leader, handling a crisis, and being the kind of person you can count on, and trust. Bill is well known for never raising his voice, never losing his temper, and mentoring students with patience, good humor, and compassion. A person of deep faith, Bill doesn’t just care about the work the students do, he cares about who they are as human beings; and he mentors them as beloved children of God.
Not only has Bill cared for generations of students, he also has cared for our campus for generations as well. Bill takes great pride in the beauty of the campus, the integrity of the facilities, and the comfort and safety of the homes of our community members. Day in and day out, weekends, evenings, and holidays, Bill Link is on call. Dependable and conscientious, he comes when there is an emergency, he comes when there is a snowstorm, he comes when there is a problem, he comes when there is a need.
Bill also has played a critical role in multiple complex renovation projects at Wartburg Seminary through the years, and he is highly regarded by our construction partners in Dubuque. Largely because of Bill, the stately beauty of the Wartburg Seminary campus is widely known and admired among the Dubuque community and far beyond.
It is fair to say that Wartburg Seminary would not be the place it is without Bill’s steady leadership, countless hours of skilled labor, collegiality, and wisdom. For over 40 years, Bill has given this institution of the church his very best. Now it is our privilege and honor to bestow upon William J. Link the Living Loehe Award. Bill Link, Wartburg Theological Seminary gives thanks to God for you.