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Virginia, General seminaries’ president and dean announces 2028 retirement plan

February 05, 2026

[Virginia Theological Seminary] The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, dean and president of Virginia Theological Seminary and president of The General Theological Seminary on Feb. 5 announced that he will retire at the end of the 2027-28 academic year. Markham led VTS for 21 years, and for the past six years has served as president of GTS, a role he assumed following an affiliation agreement between the two seminaries. Markham’s tenure has been marked by a deep commitment to excellence in theological education, with the two seminaries offering outstanding Master of Divinity programs in both residential and hybrid modalities. He has attracted and supported an outstanding faculty and senior leadership team, recruited an increasingly diverse student body, and fostered a strong culture of faculty scholarship, teaching, formation and institutional health, leading the seminaries with courage and conviction. During his time at VTS, Markham oversaw the creation of a reparations program, under which VTS became the first educational institution in the United States to make annual cash payments in perpetuity to the descendants of those who labored on its campus during slavery and the Jim Crow era. The initiative formed part of a broader institutional commitment to acknowledge participation in oppression in the past and work towards healing and justice in the future. He also ensured the long-term stewardship and renewal of the campus, leading two major capital campaigns at VTS. The first funded the construction of a new chapel after the historic 1881 chapel was destroyed by fire. The second campaign, undertaken to mark VTS’ historic Bicentenary, enabled the renovation of several historic buildings and addressed deferred maintenance across the campus. In 2022, Markham led the affiliation between VTS and GTS, under which the two seminaries continue to operate as separate institutions with distinct identities and their own accreditation, endowment, and boards, while sharing an overlapping governance structure and executive leadership team—establishing a new model for cooperation and shared mission. In 2025, he oversaw the lease of GTS’ historic home in New York City, the Close, to Vanderbilt University. Under the terms of the lease, GTS retains a year-round presence on the Close and continues to hold its intensive weeks there. “It has been a profound privilege to serve as leader of these two institutions, and I am deeply grateful to the staff, students, faculty, and board members who have walked this path with me. I remain humbled by the trust I was given and by the chance to serve our shared mission. I look to the future with confidence and hope as my successor leads these seminaries into fresh possibilities,” Markham said. David Charlton, chair of the Boards of Trustees of VTS and GTS, said: “I have had the enormous privilege of working closely with Ian Markham since 2007. He is an extraordinary leader, scholar, teacher and pastor, and he has become a cherished friend. I know I speak for all when I offer our profound gratitude for what he has contributed to theological education, to The Episcopal Church and to the Anglican Communion.” The Boards of Trustees of VTS and GTS are launching an international search for the next dean and president of the two seminaries. The Boards have appointed a Search Committee, whose membership represents a range of stakeholders, to lead the process and have engaged the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller to assist them. The search process will begin with extensive listening sessions with stakeholder groups, such as alumni, students, faculty, staff and members of the wider Episcopal Church, to identify the qualities and experience the new dean and president should have. A position description will be created in the summer of 2026 following these listening sessions, after which the seminaries will begin accepting applications. The new dean and president will be announced in the summer or fall of 2027, with a view to them taking office on July 1, 2028, when retires. The seminaries have opted for an extended timeline for the search to enable them to access the broadest possible pool of candidates.