Welcome New Faculty

Welcome Rev. Dr. Nicholas Hopman and Dr. Andrea Vestrucci to their new faculty roles at ILT.

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Nicholas Hopman, Ph.D. to Christ College faculty as Assistant Professor of History and Systematic Theology, and Andrea Vestrucci, Ph.D., Ph.D., to the faculty of Christ School of Theology as Associate Professor of Philosophical Theology and Ethics.

Rev. Dr. Nicholas Hopman was born and raised in Tinley Park, Illinois. He was baptized and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church (ALC, former Iowa Synod). Dr. Hopman earned his M.Div. at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota and his Ph.D. at Princeton Theological Seminary. Dr. Hopman has served over fourteen years as a parish pastor, including a bilingual (German-English) congregation in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is rostered with CALC, LCMC, and the NALC.

Dr. Andrea Vestrucci holds a Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Geneva, Switzerland as well as a Ph.D. in Ethics from the University of Lille, France and brings a wealth of knowledge, a distinguished academic background, and a profound commitment to the exploration of theological and ethical questions and to the Christian church. He is an expert in the area of AI and Ethics as well as in Luther’s theology and has published and taught extensively in these fields. Dr. Vestrucci has been teaching and researching with ILT since 2023 as a Distinguished Professor and Fellow and co-taught a seminar on AI the Theology in the summer of 2024, as well as his course HST 842 “Luther’s Concept of Freedom” in the fall of 2023, a course he will teach again in the coming fall semester.

We are honored to welcome both professors to our esteemed staff and look forward to the invaluable contributions they will make to our school!