Dean and President

Berkeley Divinity School at Yale has selected The Reverend Dr. Gabrielle Rachael Thomas to be the next Dean and President of Berkeley. She will also serve as Associate Dean of Yale Divinity School. She will assume office on July 1, 2026.

Dr. Thomas is currently serving as tenured Associate Professor of Early Christianity and Anglican Studies at Emory’s Candler School of Theology. She was recruited by Emory in 2021 to be the inaugural faculty member of the Anglican Studies program. During her time at Emory, she has also served as Theologian-in-Community at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta. Prior to that, Dr. Thomas was on the faculty of Berkeley and the Yale Divinity School from 2019-2021.

She is a respected scholar of Early Christianity. Dr. Thomas has published twenty articles and is the author of two books and co-editor of another volume. Her fourth book - the second to be published by Cambridge University Press — will be available this spring. Dr. Thomas earned her B.A. degree (Hons.) from the University of Bristol, M.Th. (with distinction), awarded by the University of Chester, and PhD in Historical Theology from University of Nottingham.

To view the full announcement, click here.

Ernest Brooks led this search with Liz Braun and Elizabeth Arvanitis.