The Board of Trustees of Seminary of the Southwest has elected the Rev. Ruthanna B. Hooke, PhD, as the seminary’s 10th dean and president. Hooke will begin her service on January 1, 2027.
Hooke comes to Southwest from Virginia Theological Seminary, where she serves as Professor of Homiletics. She joined the Virginia Theological Seminary faculty in 2003 and has held several academic and administrative leadership roles, including associate dean of students, associate dean of chapel, and sub-dean for academic assessment. She is Program Director of the Preaching Congregations Initiative and holds a joint appointment as Professor of Homiletics at The General Theological Seminary.
“I am thrilled, honored, and so happy to have been appointed as the next dean and president of Seminary of the Southwest,” Hooke said. “I have long been an admirer of the seminary and the mission and ethos it embodies: its commitment to creating beloved community and equipping students to serve a diverse church and world, its practices of collaborative leadership, an openness to innovation and creativity in forming leaders for the future, and a willingness to engage in conversation and seek common ground amid difference.”
“I have come to know the seminary as a place of warm hospitality, authentic community, and a strong sense of purpose,” she continued. “All these qualities make Southwest a gift to the church and the world, a precious institution which I feel blessed to steward. I am profoundly grateful for the confidence the Board of Trustees has placed in me by entrusting me with this calling, and I look forward to working with the board, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends to guide Seminary of the Southwest into the bright future it has before it.”
The Rt. Rev. Kathryn M. Ryan, bishop suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas and chair of the Seminary of the Southwest Board of Trustees, said Hooke’s experience as an educator, priest, scholar, and institutional leader will serve Southwest well as it continues to advance its mission of forming people for vocations of ministry, service, and healing.
“Dr. Hooke brings a deeply relational and collaborative approach to leadership, a distinguished record as a teacher and scholar, and an abiding commitment to the formation of leaders for the church and the world,” said Ryan. “In her meeting with the board, she demonstrated a clear understanding of Southwest’s distinctive mission and a compelling vision for strengthening its programs, broadening its relationships, and nurturing the beloved community at the heart of this institution. She will be an excellent partner for the board as we move into Southwest’s exciting future.”
Hooke was elected by the Board of Trustees following a national search conducted in partnership with the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller. The Presidential Search Committee, chaired by Josephine Hicks, executive chair of the Board of Trustees, recommended Hooke’s selection to the board. The committee included trustees, faculty members, administrators, alumni, and other representatives of the Southwest community.
“The search committee approached this process with prayer, care, and a deep sense of responsibility for the future of Seminary of the Southwest,” said Hicks. “Dr. Hooke distinguished herself through the depth of her experience, the clarity of her vocation, and her ability to connect academic excellence with community, formation, and institutional leadership. Moreover, her humility and eagerness to more deeply understand Southwest were manifest throughout the process. She listened closely, engaged differences thoughtfully, and conveyed a genuine love for Southwest and its mission. We are grateful to everyone who participated in the search and are confident that Dr. Hooke is the right leader for this important chapter.”
“Seminary of the Southwest was created and has maintained a solid presence at the forefront of mission,” said the Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle, IX Bishop of Texas. “It has done so by raising up students for the faithful mission of Christ, and its alumni stretch around the world in their impact. Today, it remains at the forefront, training more clergy for ministry than any other seminary through its residential seminary and the Iona Collaborative, as well as through its ministry of pastoral care in the counseling program. We remain one of the only seminaries to focus on mission to diverse populations through our culturally rich course of study.
“Today our seminary is a leader in theological education. It is no surprise, then, that we are excited about Dr. Hooke’s call to serve as the next dean. Dr. Hooke embodies these qualities, as has her ministry leadership over the years. She arrives as a friend of Texas, and we are excited to work with her, the board, and academic leadership to take our next steps toward a bright future for the church. The calling of Dr. Hooke reveals that Seminary of the Southwest intends to continue a tradition of forming thoughtful, courageous, and faithful leaders the Church and the world need; as Bishop Hines imagined many years ago when he planted the seminary in the heart of Texas.”
An Episcopal priest and scholar of preaching, Hooke’s teaching and research focus on homiletics, theology, voice, embodiment, performance, biblical storytelling, and the relationship between preaching and worship. She is a Designated Linklater Voice Teacher and has taught courses including Preaching in the Anglican Tradition, Embodying the Sermon: Vocal and Physical Training for Preachers, Biblical Storytelling, and Preaching in a Time of Eco-Crisis. She also has served on the planning committee of the Homiletics and Biblical Studies Section of the Society of Biblical Literature.
Hooke is the author of Sacramental Presence: An Embodied Theology of Preaching, published in 2023, and Transforming Preaching, published in 2010. Her scholarship explores preaching as an embodied, theological, and communal practice, drawing from performance studies as well as liturgical and sacramental theology. She is co-editor of the forthcoming volume, Have Mercy: Following Jesus in Politically Perilous Times (Church Publishing, 2026), a collection of essays from seminary faculty reflecting on the political implications of core Christian commitments.
Before joining the faculty at Virginia Theological Seminary, Hooke served Episcopal congregations in Connecticut. She was ordained to the diaconate in 1998 and to the priesthood in 1999. She later served as affiliated or adjunct clergy at congregations in Virginia and Washington, D.C. She currently serves as Priest Associate at Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill in Alexandria, Virginia.
Hooke earned a Ph.D. in religious studies, with a concentration in theology, from Yale University. She received her Master of Divinity, summa cum laude, from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and Yale Divinity School, where she also studied at the Institute of Sacred Music. She holds a Master of Arts in performing arts from Emerson College and an undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, in comparative religion from Harvard University.
Hooke will succeed the Rt. Rev. Diane M. Jardine Bruce, who has served as interim dean and president since January 2026. Bruce was appointed to guide Southwest through the leadership transition and support the institution during the search for its 10th dean and president.
Details regarding Hooke’s transition and installation will be announced at a later date.