Gabrielle Thomas announced as next Dean of Berkeley Divinity School on the Quad

I am thrilled to announce to the YDS community the new Dean of Berkeley Divinity School. The Rev. Dr. Gabrielle Thomas, a noted scholar of fourth-century Christian theology and Anglican Studies, will succeed Andrew McGowan and become Berkeley’s 15th Dean. She will begin her tenure on July 1st, also joining the YDS faculty as Professor in the Practice of Early Christian, Anglican, and Theological Studies.

Dr. Thomas is familiar to many on the Quad from the two years she was with us as Lecturer in Early Christianity and Anglican Studies, from 2019 to 2021. A University of Bristol graduate, she has a Ph.D. in Historical Theology from the University of Nottingham. From 2017 to 2025, she was a member of the Theological Reflection Group of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

She is currently a tenured Associate Professor at Emory’s Candler School of Theology. During her time in Atlanta she has also served as Theologian-in-Community at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.

Dr. Thomas has two monographs to her credit and another in press: The Image of God in the Theology of Gregory of Nazianzus (Cambridge, 2019); For the Good of the Church: Unity, Theology, & Women (SCM Press, 2021); and The Problem of the Devil in Cappadocian Thought, forthcoming later this year from Cambridge University Press. She is co-editor of the volume Women and Ordination in the Orthodox Church: Explorations in Theology and Practice (Cascade, 2020).

In addition to her monographs, Dr. Thomas has published 16 scholarly articles, in publications including the Journal of Anglican Studies, Journal of Theological Studies, Scottish Journal of Theology, and Theological Studies. She has seven book chapters to her credit as well—six in print and one forthcoming.

One reviewer said of Dr. Thomas, “I consider her to be one of the finest scholars of fourth-century Christian theology, Early Christianity/Patristics more generally, as well as one who is able to bring her scholarly specialization to bear on contemporary issues and the wider field of theology more generally.”

Said another reviewer: “More than anyone else I know, she has been able to tie together her service to the academy and to the Church.”

Dr. Thomas has made significant contributions to the role of women in the Anglican Communion both through her writing and voice within the church. Her years on the faculty here demonstrated that she is an outstanding pedagogue.

Dr. Thomas succeeds the Rev. Dr. Andrew McGowan, who over his 12 years as Dean has led Berkeley through a time of extraordinary vitality and renewal. Among his many accomplishments is his leadership of the project to renew and renovate the Berkeley Center, which now serves as a superb hub for formation, hospitality, academic life, and prayer. Also under his leadership, Berkeley received a $1 million Lilly Endowment grant to support its Virtual Curacy, extending the School’s mission of formation well beyond New Haven and into dioceses across the Church. We will celebrate Andrew and his deanship at the conclusion to this academic year.

We are happy to have Gabrielle returning in this new role, in which she will continue the standard that Andrew set as a scholar and committed church leader. Please join me in welcoming her back to the Berkeley and YDS community.