Date: February 13, 2026
It is my practice to share with the community, through the commentary, the decisions emerging from last week’s Board meeting. This time is perhaps the strangest moment in my deanship. The Board is starting the search for my successor. I will retire at the end of June 2028. My successor is likely to be appointed in May 2027, enabling a year for the new Dean to finish one position and begin to run the two institutions of Virginia Theological Seminary and The General Theological Seminary. Since the announcement from Senior Vice President Nicky Burridge (whose team has been outstanding in managing the communications), social media has been full of some very poignant and moving commentary. I have been deeply touched.
I am grateful for the many remarks and affectionate comments. I love these two institutions. I first fell in love with GTS back in 1991, when, under Dean Fenhagen, I was a visiting scholar in New York. For years, my wall was adorned with a fabulous picture of New York. I then fell in love with VTS when I was a Claggett Fellow attached to the Washington National Cathedral under Dean Nathan Baxter, back in the year 2000.
These two institutions are magical; they are extraordinary. Now, of course, I still have another two and a half years to go. And I certainly don’t want this to be the longest goodbye ever. But this morning I just want to say thank you. And I really do love you all.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and the President of The General Theological Seminary.