Womanist Ethicist, Theologian Named MLK Professor of Religion and Black Studies

Emilie Townes comes to Boston University from Vanderbilt University’s Divinity School, where she was dean emerita and the Distinguished Professor of Womanist Ethics and Society. She previously taught at Yale University and Union Theological Seminary.Photo courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity SchoolDr. Emilie Townes has been named the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Religion and Black Studies at Boston University’s School of Theology (STH), effective July 1.

“The polarizations we’re living with now are heartbreaking to me,” said Townes. “I’m feeling like this [professorship] is a great challenge, and more than that, a great possibility to see if there are ways in which the prominence of the chair can help start conversations that lead people to working together as opposed to being at each other’s throats or not listening.”

The professorship honors King “by modeling the moral authority, prophetic vision of justice, peace, and love, ethical leadership, and global consciousness that he advocated for and embodied,” according to STH.

The chair was previously held by longtime STH faculty member Rev. Walter E. Fluker, who retired from the position in 2020.

Townes holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School and a Ph.D. in religion in society and personality from Northwestern University.

Her scholarship as a womanist and Black theology comprises work on social issues such as racial health disparities and environmental racism. Before becoming the first Black dean at Vanderbilt Divinity School in 2013, she was the first Black woman president of the American Academy of Religion, the first African American and first woman to serve as associate dean for academic affairs at the Yale Divinity School, and the first Black woman president of the American Academy of Religion.

Townes serves as the president of the Society of Christian Ethics, the first Black woman to hold the office. She will return to the classroom in spring 2025.

“I’ll try to help students get a better sense of the structures we’re dealing with and not just personal opinion or sound bites or all those other things that are not quite what you should be using to build a society that is sustainable, but also where are each of us individually in that structure,” Townes said. “And how can we be better people in light of it?”