L. Gregory Jones will remain dean of Duke Divinity until 2023
L. Gregory Jones, who is currently serving a three-year term as dean of Duke Divinity School, has had his term as dean extended for a full five years, through 2023.
Jones was named dean in 2018 when Elaine Heath stepped down. Jones, who earned MDiv and PhD degrees from Duke, previously served as dean of Duke Divinity from 1997 to 2010. In addition, he served as Duke University’s vice president and vice provost for global strategy and programs and created the Office of Global Strategy and Programs. At the time he replaced Heath, Jones was on the divinity school faculty as professor of theology and Christian ministry.
“We have been extremely impressed by Greg’s leadership and commitment to the school,” Duke provost Sally Kornbluth said in a message sent to school faculty. “After discussion with various stakeholders, we have come to the conclusion that it would be a great benefit to the school to extend Dean Jones’s term.”
Kornbluth said that toward the end of Jones’s term, the university will begin a search for his successor. “I believe that this approach will give us the greatest possible chance of securing a stable future for the Divinity School and strong leadership into the future,” she said.
Jones is widely recognized as a scholar and church leader on such issues as forgiveness and reconciliation, Christian vocation, leadership, and strengthening the church and its ministry. One of his major initiatives is the Faith and Leadership program, which opens learning resources from the divinity school’s leadership education to Christian church leaders and their institutions. He remains a senior fellow at the program. —Duke Today staff
