Dr. Brad R. Braxton is President and Professor of Public Theology at Chicago Theological Seminary, a progressive graduate school of theological education known for its leadership in social justice and interfaith engagement. He is also the Senior Program Advisor for Creative Encounters: Living Religions in the United States, the 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival on religious diversity, and the Founding Senior Pastor of The Open Church, an inclusive congregation in Baltimore, Maryland committed to social activism, LGBTQ equality, and interfaith collaboration.

He holds a Ph.D. in New Testament studies from Emory University, where he was a George W. Woodruff Fellow, a master’s degree in theology from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a B.A. degree in religious studies from the University of Virginia, where he was a Jefferson Scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Dr. Braxton is the author of several scholarly books exploring the intersection of religion and social justice. His books No Longer Slaves: Galatians and African American Experience and Preaching Paul are frequently used in seminary courses. His two latest books are forthcoming in 2023.

Dr. Braxton is an ordained Baptist minister and a highly sought-after lecturer and preacher. In 2007, he preached at Westminster Abbey in London, England. His Westminster Abbey sermon on justice and non-violence was part of the bicentennial commemoration of the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. He has also preached and lectured in Benin, Canada, Ghana, and South Africa.