The Rev. Dr. Loida Martell is the 18th Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Lexington Theological Seminary, a post that she took up in August of 2017. She also serves as Professor of Constructive Theology. Prior to joining the faculty at LTS, she was Professor of Constructive Theology at Palmer Theological School of Eastern University in Pennsylvania.During her tenure at Palmer, she founded the Orlando E. Costas Lectureship and the Diversity Committee, helping the school as it sought to become an actively anti-racist and more inclusive institution.
According to Dr. Charisse Gillett, President of LTS, “Dr. Martell is absolutely the right dean for LTS at this time in its history as the Seminary continues to navigate the social, political and religious landscape that impacts the church and theological institutions. I am grateful that she discerned a call to join the senior leadership team and faculty at LTS.” In reflecting on her sense of call to serve as Dean, Dr. Martell said “When I first found out that I was selected to be the next Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Lexington Theological Seminary, there was a sense of kairos, of being called to a particular place at a particular time. Having been here now for more than seven months, I can attest to God’s leading grace: I can think of no better place to be a Dean.” Dr. Martell is proud to serve at LTS and sees the seminary serving a key role in developing transformative leaders for the church and world: “It is a true privilege to be called to serve in an institution of higher learning that is not only innovative and cutting edge, I would even say visionary, in its approach to theological education, but is also rooted in, and committed to, serving the Reign of God in the Church and in the world.”
Dr. Martell pioneered the study of evángelica theology and has published articles on evángelica soteriology, Christology, doctrine of God, Scriptural hermeneutics, embodiment, eschatology, globalization and vocation. She co-authored Latina Evangélicas: A Theological Survey from the Margins (2013) and co-edited Teología en Conjunto: A Collaborative Hispanic Protestant Theology (1997). A member of the American Academy of Religion, Dr. Martell currently serves as President of La Comunidad of Hispanic Scholars of Religion.
Dr. Martell is an ordained minister in the American Baptist Church as well as a licensed doctor in veterinary medicine. She has taught in various institutions of higher learning including Gordon Conwell’s Center for Urban Ministerial Education in Boston and the University of Puerto Rico’s College of Allied Health Professionals, where she initiated the Animal Health Technology Program. The American Baptist Home Mission Societies awarded her the 2015 Richard Hoiland Christian Education Award, its highest recognition for her long-standing work in nurturing culturally and racially diverse classrooms and for exceptional leadership. In addition to her work in higher education, Dr. Martell pastored in New Yok city for fifteen years, creating bilingual programs for the churches she served.