Changing Scenes | New leaders | In Trust Center for Theological Schools

Barbara Reid

Catholic Theological Union

Sister Barbara Reid, OP, a leading biblical scholar noted for her work in feminist biblical interpretation, has been named president of Catholic Theological Union (CTU) by the Board of Trustees. She succeeds the Rev. Mark R. Francis, CSV, who retired on Dec. 31, 2020, after serving as the Theological Union’s president for seven years.

Reid is a Dominican sister of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and has been a member of the faculty of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Illinois, since 1988. She also served as vice president and academic dean from 2009-18. She is the first woman religious to serve as president of Catholic Theological Union.

Reid, who holds a Ph.D. from Catholic University of America, has been actively involved in the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, including serving for two terms on the board of directors. She is also past president of the Catholic Biblical Association and the recipient of numerous honors and awards.CTU was founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1968 when several religious orders combined their seminary resources. Today, CTU is sponsored by 24 religious communities, is partnered with the Association of Chicago Theology Schools and DePaul University, and enjoys a strong relationship with the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Uriah Y. Kim

Graduate Theological Union

Dr. Uriah Y. Kim became the president of the Graduate Theological Union, effective August 2020, after being named interim president in February 2020. The Board of Trustees selected Kim to succeed Rabbi Daniel L. Lehmann, the Theological Union’s first non-Christian president, who resigned after serving as president since 2018.

Kim previously served as the dean and vice president for academic affairs at GTU, as well as the John Dillenberger Professor of Biblical Studies. From 2012 to 2016, he was academic dean at Hartford Seminary.

Kim is a graduate of New York University, Princeton Theological Seminary, Candler School of Theology, and the Graduate Theological Union.

The Graduate Theological Union, in Berkeley, California, is a consortium of eight seminaries and various academic centers for the study of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, the environment, and the arts.

James Hwang

Logos Evangelical Seminary

The Board of Directors of Logos Evangelical Seminary has named the Rev. Dr. James Hwang as the seminary’s third president, beginning July 1, 2021. He succeeds the Rev. Dr. Kuo-Liang Lin, who served as president since 2014.

Hwang is currently an assistant professor of missions and practical theology and program director of the doctor of ministry program. He previously served as dean of students and program director of the MAICS (Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies) program.

He earned a Ph.D. in business administration the University of Mississippi and holds degrees from Overseas Theological Seminary, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, International Theological Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Logos Evangelical Seminary. Ordained as a pastor in 2009, he and his wife, Antonia, served as missionaries with Africa Inland Mission and taught at Moffat Bible College in Kenya from 2004 until 2014. They have two adult children.

Chuck Conniry

Western Seminary

Western Seminary’s Board of Trustees appointed Chuck Conniry, Ph.D., as its 13th president, effective Feb. 1, 2021. He succeeds Randy Roberts, who announced his decision to step down after 12 years in the role.

For the past three years, Conniry served as Western’s provost and vice president of academic affairs. He earned his doctorate in theology from Fuller Seminary in May 1997 and has served for nearly 30 years in a variety of instructional and administrative roles at schools on the West Coast. He also spent many years in pastoral ministry and church planting.

Established in 1925 as the Portland Baptist Bible Institute in Portland, Oregon, Western Seminary now has now has degree-granting campuses in Santa Clara and Sacramento, California, and at the Seattle Teaching Institute in Bellevue, Washington.

Kenton Anderson

Providence University College and Theological Seminary

The Board of Governors of Providence University and Theological Seminary has appointed Dr. Kenton Anderson as the institution’s 15th President. He succeeds Dr. David Johnson, who served as president since 2013.

Anderson will assume office in June. He previously served for 25 years as both president and professor of homiletics at Northwest Baptist Seminary in Langley, British Columbia. He earned his Ph.D. in 1997 from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas, is known for his leadership in competency-based theological education (CBTE) and developed the first CBTE degree program accredited by the Association of Theological Schools.

Founded in 1925 as the Winnipeg Bible Training School, the institution moved to Otterburne, Manitoba, in 1970. The Theological Seminary was established in 1972.

G. Sujin Pak

Boston University School of Theology

Dr. G. Sujin Pak has been appointed dean of the Boston University School of Theology. A leading scholar of Christianity in late medieval and early modern Europe, Pak began her tenure on Jan. 1, and succeeded Mary Elizabeth Moore, who led the school for 12 years and was the first woman to serve as dean.

Pak previously served as a vice dean at Duke University’s Divinity School, where she oversaw admissions, degree programs, student affairs, ministerial formation, and field education. Pak earned her bachelor’s degree from Emory University, and her master’s in theological studies and Ph.D. at Duke.

The School of Theology, Boston University’s oldest school, started in Vermont in 1839 and relocaed to Boston in 1867, two years before the university’s founding.