LSTC Announces 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award Honorees
LSTC proudly celebrates the recipients of the 2025 Distinguished Alumni Awards, recognizing alumni who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, service, and academic excellence in their respective fields.
This year’s honorees are:
Rev. Dr. Emlyn A. Ott – Specialized Ministry Award
Rev. Dr. Carmelo Santos – Called to Lead Award
Meet the 2025 Honorees

Rev. Dr. Emlyn A. Ott – Specialized Ministry Award
Rev. Dr. Emlyn A. Ott is a distinguished leader in specialized ministry and theological education, with a career deeply rooted in community, congregational leadership, and ecumenical collaboration. Ordained in 1986, she served for over two decades as pastor of Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where she developed interfaith and community-based initiatives, including a counseling center, youth programs, and family support services. Her leadership in congregational resilience and mission focus led to her long-standing involvement with Healthy Congregations, Inc., where she now serves as Executive Director and CEO.
Dr. Ott’s academic journey began at the College of Wooster, followed by theological training at the University of Chicago Divinity School and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. She has held faculty positions at Trinity Lutheran Seminary and currently serves as Associate Professor and Director of Doctor of Ministry Programs at Bexley Seabury Seminary, where she continues to shape future church leaders. Her work focuses on how organizational systems and pastoral formation intersect to support sustainable ministry.
A Clinical Fellow in the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE), Dr. Ott remains committed to integrating leadership, theology, and pastoral care. Her recent sabbatical deepened her research on mission clarity, ecumenical partnerships, and resilience, engaging congregations in the U.S. and U.K. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her spouse, Dr. Robert Ward, Director of Choral Activities at The Ohio State University.

Rev. Dr. Carmelo Santos – Called to Lead Award
Rev. Dr. Carmelo Santos is a leading voice in theological diversity and in theology, especially in conversation with science, postcolonial studies, and activism. As Director for Theological Diversity and Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement in the Office of the Presiding Bishop, he shapes contemporary theological discourse with a commitment to inclusivity, scholarship, and faith in action.
Dr. Santos was drawn to LSTC for its pioneering work in the Zygon Center for Religion and Science and its strong emphasis on Hispanic Ministry. His academic work explores the dynamic intersection of cognitive science, liberation theology, and post-colonial theology, bridging scientific inquiry with theological reflection. A former professorial lecturer on the faculty at Georgetown University (2011-2018), he was known for teaching the popular course “God and the Brain,” which engaged students in conversations about neuroscience, faith, and the human experience.
His upcoming book, A Liberation Theology of the Brain: Neuroscience, Science, and Decolonizing Emotions (Summer 2025), challenges conventional understandings of emotion, cognition, and spirituality, offering a groundbreaking decolonial perspective. With an MDiv (2002), ThM (2004), and PhD (2010), Dr. Santos is widely recognized for reinterpreting Martin Luther’s theology for modern contexts. His insights have been featured in Living Lutheran and the Journal of Lutheran Ethics, and he authored the ELCA’s Freedom of the Christian study guide for the 500th Reformation anniversary in 2017.
A sought-after speaker, Dr. Santos has delivered keynotes at the ELCA Rostered Leaders Gathering and preached for Lutherans Restoring Creation’s 2022 Earth Day Worship. His leadership in theological education, environmental stewardship, and interfaith engagement continues to shape faith communities nationwide.
About the Distinguished Alumni Awards
LSTC’s Distinguished Alumni Awards honor graduates who exemplify excellence in their vocations, commitment to service, and meaningful contributions to their communities.
For more details about the awards or this year’s honorees, contact:
Jessica P. Houston – Alumni and Congregational Engagement Officer
773.256.0697 | jhouston@lstc.edu