Alumni of the Year: Mary '68 and Steve ‘69 Kaufmann

Steve and Mary have blessed Covenant College for more than 50 years. They met at Covenant in the 1960s, and as students, they set patterns of encouragement, diligence, and faithfulness which have continued to grow over the years. Together they have provided an essential foundation to Covenant’s education program. Steve studied at Covenant Theological Seminary and earned a master’s in history and a Ph.D. in education from the University of Iowa. His courses, “Intro to Teaching” for undergraduates and “Foundations for Curriculum” for graduate students, and his book First the Foundation have laid the biblical and motivational groundwork for Christian schools in eastern Europe, China, and the United States since 1982. Respected by all his colleagues for his wisdom and spiritual maturity, Steve was elected as the first moderator of the faculty at Covenant.

While Steve taught, Mary worked as the pastor’s secretary at Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church. Together, they have cared for and entertained hundreds of Covenant students, feeding them pancakes at their home, giving them godly advice about relationships, admonishing them gently when they made poor decisions, and living as examples for others what it means to be Christ-like husbands, wives, scholars, and friends.

Covenant College is blessed to have had Steve and Mary serving our community since 1983. They have seven children: Benjamin ‘94, Joe ‘97, David ‘00, Andrew ‘03, Heidi ‘05, Laura ‘05, and Anna (Kaufmann) Moyle ‘05. Mary and Steve are proud grandparents of many, including Eliot Kaufmann ‘18 and Jonathan Kaufmann (current student).