Michael DeLashmutt begins as Acting Dean & President
The Very Rev. Dr. Michael W. DeLashmutt, Acting Dean & President and leaders of the Board of Trustees, (L to R) the Rt. Rev. Kevin S. Brown ’07, DeLashmutt, the Rt. Rev. Robert C. Wright (chair), the Rev. Ellen L. Tillotson ’83.
This week, the Very Rev. Dr. Michael W. DeLashmutt began as Acting Dean & President of The General Theological Seminary.
About the appointment, the Rt. Rev. Robert Wright, President of the Board of Trustees notes, “I am delighted that the Rev. Dr. Michael DeLashmutt has agreed to be the Acting Dean and President of General Seminary. He understands the import and urgency of this moment for GTS and is the perfect choice.”
“In my role as Acting Dean and President, I see myself focusing on five interrelated initiatives,” says DeLashmutt, “First and foremost I will keep a steady hand on the tiller to ensure that the seminary continues to operate effectively and efficiently during this interim period. Second, I intend to complete the work that is already underway for the seminary’s application to Phase 2 of the Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative. If successful, this grant will provide $1m in funding to support a third initiative, the development of a new hybrid and distributed learning pathway through the M.Div. Fourth, I intend to continue to lead our process of institutional collaboration with a variety of partners, in order to support the seminary’s effort to remain missionally, culturally and financially sustainable. Finally I will lay the organizational groundwork for our self-study and comprehensive re-accreditation visit with the Association of Theological Schools in the fall of 2023.”
Dr. DeLashmutt has dedicated his life to studying, teaching, and leading within theological higher education. A Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK), Dr. DeLashmutt's early research explored patterns of ministry formation in the Church of England, with a particular interest in alternative pathways for ordination training for bi-vocational and non-stipendiary clergy. As a scholar, he has published works in interdisciplinary theology that have touched on topics ranging from the philosophy of Paul Ricoeur to Information Technology and Popular Culture studies. Since 2010 he has served in senior leadership roles in theological colleges and seminaries in the US and UK, including Sarum College (as Deputy Principal and Director of Studies), Luther Seminary (as Associate Dean for First Theological Degrees - with oversight of the pioneering Distributed Learning M.Div.) and Trinity Lutheran College (as VP and Dean for Academic Affairs). DeLashmutt was ordained a priest in The Episcopal Church in 2020 and serves as priest associate at St. Peter’s Chelsea.
Among his major accomplishments during his time as Academic Dean at General Seminary, Dean Michael - as he is affectionately known - steered the successful completion of the seminary’s re-accreditation process with ATS in 2016, commissioned the seminary’s new website and migrated the seminary’s Student Information System and Learning Management System in 2017, developed and launched the new M.A. in Ministry in 2018 (the first new degree in over 20 years), presciently sought authorization from ATS for a comprehensive distance learning program in 2019, and designed, developed and launched the new Doctor of Ministry program in 2020. During this past year, his expertise in distributed and technology-assisted learning was instrumental to the seminary’s ability to quickly pivot to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, not only designing hybrid learning spaces and pedagogies, but also working with individual faculty to support successful teaching and learning in these difficult times. He has also been instrumental in securing three Lilly Endowment grants, “Episcopal Futures” (a collaborative partnership with the Diocese of New York for $1m over 5 years), a Louisville Post-doctoral fellowship ($175,000 over two years) and the Phase 1 of the “Pathways for Tomorrow” initiative for $50,000.
He lives on the Close with his wife Julia and their two daughters, Naomi and Eliza and their Norwich Terrier, Poppy. When Dean Michael’s not at the seminary, he’s probably riding his bike around Manhattan or enjoying some tasty treats at Chelsea Market.