Date: May 17, 2023
On Monday night at the end of the year Faculty dinner, we took the opportunity to say goodbye to the Rev. Dr. Mark Jefferson and the Dr. Hannah Matis. It was a poignant moment. We are very conscious that they have given so much; we are aware that they are seizing opportunities; and we will miss them both.
Then came to the moment of the award of the Suzanne Thomas Award for Faculty Research. This year the award went to the Rev. Dr. James Farwell. His research productivity is significant; his research plans are important. Glasses were clinked as we expressed our delight that he had been given this award.
We are doing two searches in the Fall. So new colleagues will be joining us. Friends arriving and friends leaving is a healthy institutional pattern. But it doesn’t make it any easier: I will miss Hannah and Mark.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and the President of The General Theological Seminary