HTI Alumni
Loida I. Martell
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean, Professor of Constructive Theology at Lexington Theological Seminary
Field of Study: Systematic Theology, Theology and Constructive Theology
The Rev. Dr. Loida I. Martell is Vice President of Academic Affairs/ Dean and Professor of Constructive Theology of Lexington Theological Seminary in Kentucky, effective August 1. Previously, she served as Professor of Constructive Theology at Palmer Theological Seminary/ Eastern University in Pennsylvania. She is a licensed doctor in veterinary medicine as well as an ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches/ USA. She is a bi-coastal Puerto Rican who has taught in various institutions of higher learning and pastored in New York City for 15 years. She served as President of the Board of American Baptist Churches/ Metro New York City from 1994–1996.
Dr. Martell pioneered the study of evángelica theology. She has published various articles on evangélica theology, including “My GPS Doesn’t Work in Puerto Rico,” on evangélica spirituality. She co-edited Teología en Conjunto: A Collaborative Hispanic Protestant Theology (1997), and more recently co-authored the well-received Latina Evangélicas: A Theological Survey from the Margins (2013).
Dr. Martell is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association. As a member of the American Academy of Religion, she currently serves as President of La Comunidad of Hispanic Scholars of Religion. She was appointed to represent the American Baptist Churches/ USA on the National Council of Churches Convening Table for Theological Studies and Matters of Faith and Reason. The American Baptist Home Missions Societies awarded her the 2015 Richard Hoiland Christian Education Award, its highest recognition for “faithful and effective leadership in Christian education,” for her long-standing work in nurturing culturally and racially diverse classrooms and for exceptional leadership.
Dr. Martell is an avid amateur photographer.