Women in Leadership Trailblazer Award

Women in Leadership Trailblazer Award

A Legacy of Pioneering Leadership and Scholarship

The Women in Leadership Trailblazer Award, presented by the Women in Leadership Advisory committee of The Association of Theological Schools (ATS), honors women whose extraordinary leadership, vision, and advocacy have meaningfully shaped theological education. The award recognizes those who have expanded opportunities, reshaped institutional cultures, and strengthened the presence and influence of women across the academy, the church, and the public sphere.

Grounded in the Association’s mission to strengthen theological schools for the benefit of communities of faith and society, the Trailblazer Award celebrates women whose leadership has opened new pathways in theological education. Through their creativity, resilience, and meaningful institutional impact, these leaders have improved the quality and vitality of theological education, expanded access, and redefined who is welcomed, supported, and empowered to lead. 

The award is presented in person during the ATS/COA Biennial Meeting every two years. The next award will be presented in June 2028.

Selection Criteria

The Trailblazer Award is presented to a woman whose distinguished record of contributions demonstrates exceptional impact and influence in three or more of the following areas:

  • Outstanding service to ATS or other organizations dedicated to strengthening theological education.
  • Innovative leadership in developing forms, structures, or practices within theological education that value and support women in leadership.
  • Significant scholarly contributions, including an established career in theological disciplines or scholarship focused on women in the academy.
  • Unique advancements in the understanding or practice of theological education, shaping its future in substantive and creative ways.
  • Demonstrated commitment to mentoring and coaching emerging women leaders in theological education.
  • Understanding of theological inquiry and its role in shaping faith, practice, and the formation of communities.

Awardees

The Women in Leadership Trailblazer Award has recognized remarkable women whose leadership, scholarship, and advocacy have shaped the landscape of theological education. Their names and titles at the time of receiving the award are listed below.

Congratulations to the 2026 Women in Leadership Trailblazer Award Winner

Emilie M. Townes
Executive Director, Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Religion & Black Studies
Boston University School of Theology

Emilie M. Townes is often described as a “towering figure in theological education.” She is a groundbreaking scholar, theologian, and activist whose intersectional work in Christian ethics, womanist theology, and social justice shaped faith, culture, and public theology. As an ordained American Baptist and African American theologian, Townes’ scholarship and institutional leadership have transformed theological education and expanded pathways for inclusive and justice-centered leadership.

Throughout her career, Townes has been a pioneering theologian and academic leader who broke through institutional barriers, and blazed new trails in shaping womanist ethics, publishing influential works, mentoring young scholars, and advancing social justice with theological education.

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  • First African American to serve as dean of Vanderbilt University Divinity School (2013-23), where she led major institutional initiatives, including the James Lawson Institute for the Research and Study of Nonviolent Movements, the Public Theology and Racial Justice Collaborative, and the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice
  • First African-American woman to serve as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Yale Divinity School, (2008), where she strengthened academic programming and helped shape a more expansive, justice-oriented theological curriculum.
  • First Black woman to serve as president of the American Academy of Religion, advancing critical scholarship on race, ethics, and religion while broadening the field’s engagement with womanist thought and public life.
  • First Black woman president of the Society for Christian Ethics(2024-25),continuing her leadership in guiding ethical discourse toward issues of social justice, community care, and the lived realities of marginalized communities.

 
Previous Award Winners

2024

Joanne Rodriguez

Executive Director
Hispanic Theological Initiative and Consortium
Princeton Theological Seminary

  • Transformed theological education for Latinx scholars, leading and expanding the Hispanic Theological Initiative and Consortium (HTI) to 24 member schools and raising more than $18 million to support the academic pipeline for Latinx scholars.
  • Achieved extraordinary student outcomes, with HTI-supported students completing PhDs in an average of 5.5 years and maintaining graduation rates above 93%.
  • Strengthened Latinx representation in theological education, increasing the number of PhD graduates and supporting the growth of Latinx faculty.
  • Launched the Latina Leadership Program in 2020, preparing  mid‑career scholars for deanships and presidencies, embodying her commitment to “en conjunto” collaborative, transformational leadership.
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2022

Marsha Foster Boyd
Academic Officer and Interim Chief Academic Dean
Interdenominational Theological Center

  • Trailblazing theological educator and administrator whose leadership reshaped academic institutions across the United States, often as the first African-American woman to hold senior roles.
  • Historic pioneer in theological education, serving as interim president, vice president for academic affairs, academic dean, and seminary president—breaking racial and gender barriers at multiple institutions.
  • National leader in accreditation and faculty development through her work with The Association of Theological Schools, strengthening academic excellence and institutional integrity across the field.
  • Enduring advocate for equity, justice, and scholarly excellence, 
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2018*

Sallie McFague (Posthumously)
Distinguished Theologian in Residence
Vancouver School of Theology

  • Pioneering eco‑feminist theologian whose work reshaped how generations understood God’s relationship to creation, offering models centered on care for the planet.
  • First woman to serve as dean of a US divinity school when appointed at Vanderbilt Divinity School in 1975.
  • Innovator in theological method, advancing the field through her influential use of metaphor, which opened new ways of imagining God beyond traditional constructs.
  • Bold re‑imaginer of Christian theology, proposing transformative models such as God as “mother, lover, and friend,” challenging entrenched imagery and expanding theological imagination.
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*No award was granted in 2020.

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