Daniel J. Ott
Vice President of Academic Affairs and Professor of Theology
Email: daniel.ott@upsem.edu
Phone: 804-278-4230
Location: Richmond
Department: Theology/Ethics/History
Our students learn from and develop relationships with our highly regarded faculty, many of whom are globally recognized as leading experts in their field of study.
Email: daniel.ott@upsem.edu
Phone: 804-278-4230
Location: Richmond
Department: Theology/Ethics/History
Claremont Graduate University, Philosophy of Religion and Theology
Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Master of Divinity
West Virginia University, Bachelor of Music in Music Composition
Dr. Dan Ott is an accomplished academic leader, theologian, and ordained Presbyterian minister with a deep commitment to student formation and justice-oriented education. He most recently served as Dean of the School of Theology, Humanities, and Performing Arts and Dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), where he led strategic planning, advanced academic excellence and curriculum development, and oversaw several grant initiatives. Prior to EMU, he held faculty and administrative roles at Monmouth College (IL) and St. Andrews Presbyterian College (NC).
Ott’s scholarly work explores liberal theologies, especially process and empirical theologies, abolitionist theology, and the theology of death. He is co-author with Hannah Schell of Christian Thought in America: A Brief History (Fortress Press) and is currently working on a monograph with the working title In the Twinkling of an Eye: A Christian Naturalist Theology of Death.
Dan lives with his wife, Rev. Dr. Teri McDowell Ott, and their two children, Isaac and Ella.