Emory Names New Dean Of Candler School Of Theology

Russell E. Richey, professor of church history at Duke University Divinity School, has been named dean of Emory University's Candler School of Theology. Candler is one of 13 seminaries of the United Methodist Church.

"Dr. Richey's commitment to and knowledge of the United Methodist Church, his strong administrative abilities, his expertise in theological education, and his excellence as a scholar of Wesleyan and Methodist studies make him well qualified to lead Candler at this stage of its history," said Emory President William M. Chace in making the announcement.

A distinguished scholar of Methodism in America, Richey's books and editorial leadership of major projects on American Methodist history "have given him prominence not only among religion historians, but also among leaders in the United Methodist Church," said Provost Rebecca Chopp, who also is a member of the Candler faculty.

Richey served as associate dean for academic programs at Duke Divinity School from 1986-97. Prior to that he taught for 17 years at Drew University in the theological and graduate schools, and served for three years as assistant to the president at Drew.

An ordained elder in the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, Richey has been active both on the regional and national levels, most recently as a member of the General Commission on Archives and History, as seminary liaison to the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, and on the editorial advisory board of Quarterly Review.

With teaching and research specialties in American Christianity and American Methodism, Richey has been co-director of a major study on United Methodism and American culture, funded by the Lilly Endowment (1993-98). He also served as editor of the first and fourth volumes from that project, titled "Connectionalism" (1997) and "Questions for the Twenty-First Century Church" (1999).

Among his other books are: "Early American Methodism" (1991), "Perspectives on American Methodism" (1993), "Reimagining Denominationalism" (1994), "The Methodist Conference in America" (1996) and "The People(s) Called Methodist" (1998).

A native of Asheville, N.C., Richey holds a bachelor of arts degree from Wesleyan University, a bachelor of divinity from Union Theological Seminary, and master's and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University.

Richey, who begins his new appointment July 1, succeeds R. Kevin LaGree, who left Candler last spring to become president of United Methodist-affiliated Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa.