Board of Trustees

Honorary Degree Recipients

Honorary Degree Recipients, 2023

The Board of Trustees represents the diverse constituencies the seminary serves. Its members include business leaders, alumni/ae, faculty, students, and (ex officio) the Bishop of the Diocese of Connecticut. Trustees are from across the country, just like our seminarians.

The board meets three times each year, most often at Yale. The board conducts its work through 5 standing committees:

  • Audit & Compliance
  • Advancement
  • Finance
  • Governance
  • Program & Life

The board seeks prospective members committed to promoting the seminary’s spiritual and intellectual life. Board members work to support Berkeley as a unique resource for theological education and formation in the Episcopal Church.

On behalf of the seminary, the board confers honorary degrees each year on persons whose personal and professional lives exhibit “outstanding accomplishments in the fields of public service, social justice, education and the arts, parish or diocesan leadership, or related areas affecting the Anglican Communion and Episcopal Church.”

Recipients include 

  • Rowan Williams (104th Archbishop of Canterbury)
  • Vicentia Kgabe (Bishop of Lesotho)
  • Jeffrey Mello (Bishop of Connecticut)
  • Matthew Heyd (Bishop Coadjutor of New York)
  • Mary Kate Wold, (CEO and President of the Church Pension Group)
  • Peter Hawkins (distinguished scholar and long-time YDS professor)
  • Victoria Matthews (Bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand)
  • Griselda Delgado del Carpio (Bishop of Cuba)
  • Martin Seely (Bishop of St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich, and Chair of the Ministry Council, Church of England).
  • Dr. Esther Moraa Mombo (fourth Vice-Chancellor of St. Paul’s University, Kenya)

Board of Trustees

Officers

  • James L. Elrod, Jr. ’17 MAR, Riverside, CT, Chair 
  • Linda K. Lorimer ’77 JD, New Haven, CT, Vice-Chair, Secretary 
  • Charles M. Royce, Greenwich, CT, Vice-Chair 
  • The Very Rev’d Dr. Gabrielle R. Thomas, New Haven, CT, Dean & President
  • *The Rev’d Clayton Thomason ’94 MDiv, Chicago, IL, Assistant Secretary 
  • *John C. Ericson ’97 JD, New York, NY, Counsel
  • James M. Alexander ’73 BA, New Haven, CT, Chair, Finance
  • Dr. Emily Bakemeier, New Haven, CT 
  • The Rev’d Dr. Andrew Barnett ’12 MDiv, Atlanta, GA, Chair, Alumni Affairs
  • Richard L. Chilton, Jr., Darien, CT 
  • The Rev’d Justin Crisp ’14 MDiv ’20 PhD, Greenwich, CT
  • The Rev’d S. Rainey Dankel ’11 MDiv, Richmond, VA
  • The Rev’d Charles C. Graves IV ’15 MDiv, Beachwood, OH
  • Dr. Jennifer Herdt, New Haven, CT
  • L. Francis Huck, Darien, CT, Chair, Audit & Compliance
  • The Rev’d G. Hartwell Hylton ’15 MDiv, Darien, CT
  • Jae Kirkland Rice ’27 MDiv 
  • The Hon. Margaret Marshall ’76 JD, Boston, MA, Chair, Governance
  • Dr. Westina Matthews, Savannah, GA
  • The Rt. Rev’d Jeffrey Mello ’25 DD, Meriden, CT 
  • Dr. Teresa Morgan, New Haven, CT
  • William Pearson ’28 MDiv, New Haven, CT
  • The Rev’d Pauline Samuel ’17 MDiv, Atlanta, GA
  • The Rev’d Richardson Schell ’76 MDiv, Kent, CT, Chair, Program & Life
  • Dr. Gregory Sterling, New Haven, CT 
  • Dr. Heather Tookes, New Haven, CT 
  • Clyde C. Tuggle ’88 MDiv, Atlanta, GA 
  • The Rev’d Peter F. Walsh ’92 MDiv, New Canaan, CT
  • Caroline Williamson, New York, NY, Chair, Advancement

*Denotes officer who is not a trustee.

Honorary Trustees

  • Carl T. Anderson ’15, Los Angeles, CA, Chair Emeritus