Emilie Townes Named Dean of the Vanderbilt Divinity School

Emilie-Townes-215x250Emilie M. Townes was named the 16th dean of the Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, Tennessee. She currently serves as the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of African American Religion and Theology at Yale Divinity School. She also is the associate dean of academic affairs. Before coming to Yale, she was the Carolyn Williams Beaird Professor of Christian Ethics at the Union Theological Seminary. Dr. Townes will assume her new role on July 1.

Professor Townes stated, “I am excited and honored to be asked to lead and guide a school with a long commitment to helping clergy and laity prepare for Christian ministry. It’s working to re-envision ministry to meet the needs of our times by combining spiritual and intellectual growth with a sense of social justice and the formation of new generations of scholars.”

Dr. Townes holds a bachelor’s degree, a master degree in divinity, and a doctorate of divinity from the University of Chicago. She holds a second doctorate from the joint Northwestern University/Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary program. She is the current president of the Society for the Study of Black Religion and is a past president of the American Academy of Religion.

Professor Townes is the author of Womanist Justice, Womanist Hope (Scholars Press, 1993) and In a Blaze of Glory: Womanist Spirituality as Social Witness (Abingdon Press, 1995). Her most recent book is Womanist Ethics and the Cultural Production of Evil (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). Also, she is co-editor of Womanist Theological Ethics: A Reader (Westminster John Knox Press, 2011).

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

California State University Sacramento Launches Black Honors College

Officially launching for the fall 2024 semester, the Black Honors College will support students from all backgrounds who study Black history, life, and culture by providing them with a specialized curriculum and mentoring opportunities.

Higher Education Gifts or Grants of Interest to African Americans

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

In Memoriam: Norman B. Anderson, 1955-2024

Dr. Anderson was the assistant vice president for research and academic affairs at Florida State University at the time of his death. He had an extensive career in clinical psychology, which led him to become the first African American chief executive officer of the American Psychological Association.

Georgia State University Launches Program to Support Black Women in Tech

While Black women account for roughly 29 percent of the Georgia State University undergradaute student body, they represent only 10 percent of the university's computer science majors and 18 percent of the computer information systems majors.

Featured Jobs