Betty Whitted Holley is slated to be installed as the eighteenth president of Payne Theological Seminary on November 6. Dr. Holley was appointed as the seminary’s interim president during the Fall 2025 semester.
Located in Wilberforce, Ohio, Payne Theological Seminary enrolls about 120 students, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education. Some 95 percent of students at the seminary are Black.
Prior to her career in higher education, Dr. Holley taught at Dayton Public Schools and Xenia Community Schools in Ohio and at Richmond County Schools and Greensboro Public/Guilford County Schools in North Carolina. She went on to teach at Wilberforce University, Wright State University, and Clark State Community College. At Payne Theological Seminary, Dr. Holley previously served as academic dean and director of the Alternative Theological Extension Program. Over the course of her scholarly career, she has centered her work on theological education, environmental ethics, African American religious studies, ecological theology, and the intersection of faith, justice, and stewardship of creation.
An alumna of Bennett College in North Carolina, Dr. Holley holds a master of education degree and an educational specialist degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a master of divinity degree from Payne Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Union Institute and the University of Cincinnati.
