Robert J. Marshall

Robert James Marshall (c. 1918 – December 22, 2008) was an American clergyman and religious leader who was president of the Lutheran Church in America in the 1970s, at the time the largest Lutheran church in the United States. During his leadership, he played a pivotal role in the merger of his Lutheran Church in America with the American Lutheran Church and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Marshall was born and raised in Burlington, Iowa. He grew up in a poor family, which helped him become more attuned to the concerns of those who were disadvantaged. Marshall graduated from Wittenberg University in 1941 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and from the Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary in 1944. Kauffman was awarded Doctor of Divinity degrees from both Carthage College and Wittenberg University, in addition to other graduate study at the University of Chicago

He spent three years as the pastor of a California church. He became a professor of Old Testament Interpretation at the Chicago Lutheran School of Theology (now the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Marshall was hired by Muhlenberg College, where he was later appointed as head of the school's religion department. He served as president of the Lutheran Illinois Synod until 1968.

In balloting at the Lutheran Church in America's biannual convention held in June 1966 in Kansas City, Missouri, Marshall received 70 of the 615 votes cast for president, behind Rev. Franklin Clark Fry, who was re-elected to another four-year term with 489 votes.

...
Wikipedia