K. Dean Echols
Emeriti Member
Class: 1946
Degree: BA
Major: Religion/History

After earning his BA from Chapman University in 1946, and his BD and MDiv (Cum Laude) from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California in 1952, K. Dean Echols served Disciples of Christ Churches in Northern and Southern California.  On January1, 1984, Dean became Director of Alumni Relations at Chapman University in Orange, California, and re-established relationships with many alumni and churches in Northern California.  In August 1986 he became Director of Church Relations, while also directing a Church Relations program on campus.

Dean returned to the pastoral ministry in 1987 at First Christian Church of San Jose, and retired in 1989.  Shortly thereafter, he became the pastor of a small Disciples of Christ Church in Leisure World, where he served for nine and a half years and retired again.  He then served as the Associate Pastor of First Christian Church, Fullerton from 1999 to 2004, before becoming the Intentional Interim Pastor of Palo Verde Avenue Christian Church in Long Beach in 2002.  On January 1, 2005, he became the part-time Pastor of the Mayflower Congregational Church in Laguna Woods Village.  He is now completely retired and serving as a volunteer Minister of Visitation in the Harbor Christian Church in Newport Beach. During his ministry in Disciples Churches, he is proud to have encouraged 54 students to enroll at Chapman.

Dean has served the Chapman community in various capacities, including Cardinal Quartets (3 years), Student Body President (1945-46), Chapman College Alumni Board President (1976), the Board of Trustees (1977), and the Chapel Committee from 1995 – 2000.  Dean also suggested that a Memorial Garden be added to the new Chapel, which is today called the Columbarium. In recognition of his service to the University, he received the Alumnus of the Year Award in 1981 and is the recipient of the 2006 Bert C. Williams Lifetime Service Award. In 2008, Dean’s many years of dedicated service to the Chapman community was celebrated by naming him the first Emeriti member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors.