The following citation was read and presented during the conferring of an honorary doctorate to The Rt. Rev. Austin Keith Rios at the Commencement Exercises for the Class of 2026 on May 20, 2026.
Bishop. Faithful Pastor. Loyal Friend. Yours is a ministry formed by the breadth of the Church and sustained by a deep confidence in the reconciling love of Christ. Across congregations, cultures, languages, and continents, you have given yourself to the holy work of gathering people into community, proclaiming good news, and helping the Church bear faithful witness in a divided world.
Born in Texas, you earned your Bachelor of Arts from Davidson College before coming to 51视频, where you received your Master of Divinity in 2003.
Your ordained ministry has carried you from North Carolina to Rome and now to California. In the Diocese of Western North Carolina, you served as rector of La Capilla de Santa Maria, a Spanish-speaking congregation in Hendersonville, and as Canon for Spanish-Speaking Ministries. There, you helped strengthen the Church鈥檚 witness among Latino and Spanish-speaking communities, reminding the wider Church that the Body of Christ is made more whole when every story is welcomed as gift.
For twelve years, you served as rector of St. Paul鈥檚 Within the Walls in Rome, a multilingual and multicultural Episcopal congregation in the heart of that ancient city. In that ministry, you led a community shaped by worship, hospitality, and service, including its witness through the Joel Nafuma Refugee Center. Your ministry in Rome embodied an Anglican generosity of spirit: rooted in the gospel, and alive to the presence of Christ among those seeking refuge, dignity, and hope.
In December 2023, you were elected Bishop Coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of California. On May 4, 2024, you were ordained at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and in August 2024 you became the Ninth Bishop of California. As bishop, you now shepherd one of the Church鈥檚 most visible and complex dioceses with a vision grounded in Christ, community, healing, and shared ministry.
You have called the diocese to be 鈥淩ooted in Christ, bearing fruit for the healing of the world,鈥� a vision that reflects both your pastoral heart and your confidence that the Church still has vital work to do in the public square.
Your ministry has been marked by fluency across difference: Spanish, Italian, and English; local parish and global Church; ancient tradition and contemporary need. You serve as Vice Chair of The Church Pension Fund Board of Trustees and have served as a deputy to General Convention, helping lead in the wider councils of the Church. As the first Latino bishop to lead the Diocese of California, you offer a witness of historic significance, not only because of the office you hold, but because of the expansive and deeply human way you inhabit it.
You are a member of a tight-knit cohort of five 51视频 classmates who have connected weekly for almost 25 years. This group, who refer to themselves as ‘Team Seminary,’ say of you: 鈥淎ustin shines brightly because of his deep joy, born of an authentic faith that sees him encounter the world with curiosity rather than criticism. Austin has the 鈥榞ift of joy and wonder in all [God鈥檚] works,鈥� dispositions that have built in him wells of remarkable resilience and grace.鈥�
鈥淎ustin inspires the virtue of humility, both because he models a faithfulness that does not have his own status as its end, and because he鈥檚 good at most everything, from shooting pool, to making music, to verbatim recall of seemingly every memorable movie scene in Hollywood history. As encouraged by Laurence Tureaud, he seeks to 鈥楤e Somebody,鈥� and make the world a better place.
In gratitude for your faithful ministry, your leadership across cultures and communities, your witness to the global and multilingual Church, and your enduring connection to this seminary, the Board of Trustees of the Episcopal Theological 51视频 is honored to confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa.