Matthew Wesley Williams
The Rev. Matthew Wesley Williams is the president of the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC). His appointment makes him ITC’s 11th President, and at 43, Williams is the youngest person to lead the institution, which was formed in 1958.
Williams, an ITC alumnus and community leader, formerly served as the vice president of strategic initiatives for the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE). In Matthew’s role at FTE, he was instrumental in helping to restructure FTE’s operations to better achieve its mission amidst a changing religious landscape. While in this position, FTE’s ministry and doctoral initiatives grew and expanded. In addition, after studying various challenges theological executives face in their institutions, Williams established FTE’s Institutional Doctoral Network to teach and train theological executive leaders how to address systemic barriers to desirable change in their respective institutional context.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to return to my beloved alma mater to help facilitate the beginning of the next chapter of the Interdenominational Theological Center’s life and legacy,” stated Williams. “I am clear that our call is not to merely ‘save the ITC’ as we know it. This is the beginning of an effort to co-create the ITC our communities need. This is village work. I look forward to joining with ITC’s faculty, staff, students, alumni and allies to co-author this next chapter.”
Williams received a master of divinity degree from the ITC and bachelor’s degrees in both psychology and philosophy and religion from Florida A&M University. He is an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA).