Research center honors Steve Brandt
March 30, 2010
Friends, colleagues and family members of Steve Brandt gathered March 26 to dedicate the Steven R. Brandt Research Center on the mezzanine at Hiebert Library.
Ceremonies began in Shehadey Dining Hall, then proceeded to the library. Speakers included Steve's father, Jake; his daughter, Hannah; former teacher and longtime friend Paul Toews, history faculty and director of the Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies; and Kevin Enns-Rempel, archivist and history faculty. "It was said of Solomon that he built a temple for his people," Toews said. "We might say of Steve that he built his people a temple of learning."
Born in Kansas, Brandt earned a B.A. from FPU in 1971 and joined the library staff in 1980, becoming director in 1982. He was also a member of the history faculty. He earned a master's in divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and both a master's in library and information studies and a doctorate in historical bibliography from the University of California, Berkeley. Brandt died in 2004 at age 55.
About the author
Wayne Steffen is university editor at Fresno Pacific University, where he edits Pacific magazine. Before joining FPU in 1996, he was a writer and editor at several community newspapers and a college in the Midwest.