Mercer University has replaced the dean of the James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology after two years on the job.
Mercer President William D. Underwood said in an e-mail to McAfee’s board of visitors that Jeffrey Willetts, dean since July 2016, will transition to the theology faculty full-time effective Aug. 1.
Greg DeLoach, a former pastor hired last year as Mercer’s director of development, has been named interim dean of the theological education partner of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
Willetts, who in addition to his duties as dean has taught as professor of philosophy of religion, came to McAfee after the school’s founding dean, Alan Culpepper, retired in 2015.
Before moving to Atlanta Willetts served 18 years as founding dean at the John Leland Center for Theological Studies in Arlington, Va., a school founded in 1997 with ties to the Baptist General Association of Virginia and District of Columbia Baptist Convention.
The McAfee School of Theology was established in 1996 with a $10 million gift from James T. McAfee Jr., a former Mercer trustee who made his fortune in the healthcare industry before his death in 2004.