Dr. Marsha Foster Boyd

(Daughter of the late Dr. Marcus Foster)

Dr. Boyd has served as President of Ecumenical Theological Seminary since July 2006. She was previously employed for seven years as Director of Accreditation and Leadership Education at the Association of Theological Schools in Pittsburg, PA, the organization responsible for the Accreditation of some 255 seminaries in the United States and Canada. Dr, Boyd was Acedemic Dean of Payne Theological Seminary in Wilberforce, OH, and for nine years she was Associated Professor of Pastoral Care & Counseling at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH. In each of these postions, Dr. Boyd has been the first African American Women to serve, and she is only the second African American Women President of an ATCS-Accredited Seminary.

Dr. Boyd received her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Tufts University in Medford, MA; her Master of Divinity from the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, GA; and her PH.D in Religion & the Personality Sciences from the graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. Dr

Dr. Boyd was ordained Itinerant Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1978. Before entering theological education full-tim, she served A.M.E. Churches in Georgia, Arkansas, California, and Ohio.

Dr. Boyd is married to the Reverend Kenneth Boyd, an A.M.E. Minister and financial consultant, and she is the mother of one adult daughter.

Dr. Marcus Foster

Dr. Foster was a charismatic and highly esteemed African American educator who gained a national reputation for educational excellence while serving as Principle of Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia, as Associate Superintendent of Schools in Oakland, CA. He was assassinated by the Symbionese Liberation Army. Before his death, he received the highly prestigious award for the person who had done the most for Philadelphia. After his death, various sites were named in his honor, including the atletic fields at Simon Gratz High School.