Emory’s Candler School of Theology names new dean

Emory University’s Candler School of Theology has named Jonathan Strom the new dean for the prominent seminary.

Strom, professor of church history and a theological scholar, has been appointed the next Mary Lee Hardin Willard Dean of Candler. He will succeed Dean Jan Love, who is retiring after 17 years.

Strom, 62, will assume the position on Aug. 1. His two-year appointment was announced last week, following a nationwide search.

“As a faithful Christian and very active layperson in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America — with which The United Methodist Church is in full communion — Jonathan will deepen our ecumenical relationships,” UMC Bishop William T. McAlilly, a Candler alumnus and member of the dean search advisory committee, said in a release about the appointment. “He has a profound grasp of the ethos of Candler and the UMC, and I am excited to see Candler continue its commitment to forming leaders for the church and to academic excellence.”

It won’t be Strom’s first time in that role.

Strom handled many of the dean’s duties from 2019 to 2021 while Love served as interim provost.

Emory’s Candler School of Theology is one of the 13 United Methodist Church seminaries in the nation with more than 100 full-time faculty and staff. It has 400 students across various degree programs.

Credit: Contributed

Love arrived at Emory in 2007 as Candler School of Theology’s first female dean. She will remain at Emory as a professor of Christianity and world politics. Her plans are to take a sabbatical from the summer of 2024 until the summer of 2025 academic year before fully retiring in the summer of 2025.

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