Experienced seminary leader takes the helm as Asbury Seminary’s new president
Asbury Theological Seminary, the ministry graduate school located in Wilmore, has named its next president.
David Watson will begin as the seminary’s president on July 1.
He is currently the senior vice president of United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, where he is also a professor, academic dean and vice president for academic affairs. He has worked at United since 2006.
Watson succeeds Timothy Tennent, who was president of Asbury Seminary for 15 years and David Gyertson, who is currently the seminary’s interim president.
“Asbury has long been a guiding light in the Wesleyan world,” Watson said. “It embodies the best of theological education through its commitment to academic rigor, scriptural holiness, and communal formation. My wife, Harriet, and I look forward to getting to know the community and serving alongside the many faithful servants of Christ who are already engaged in this important work of theological education.”
Asbury Seminary has around 1,700 student enrolled and is connected to Asbury University, the private college located south of Lexington, according to the school’s website.
In 2023, Asbury made international headlines when a religious revival took place on campus, lasting two weeks and drawing tens of thousands of people to the campus to worship.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. David Watson as our new president,” said Helen Rhea Stumbo, chair of the board of trustees. “We are confident that the Lord brought him to us, and we look forward to working with him as the Seminary stands at the beginning of our second century.”
Watson has a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University, and a master of divinity and Ph.D. from Southern Methodist University.
He was ordained in the United Methodist Church and is an elder in the Global Methodist Church.