Guest Speakers
Keynote Speaker — Dr. Wylin Wilson
Dr. Wylin D. Wilson is associate professor of theological ethics at Duke Divinity School, where she teaches within the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative. Her teaching and research are at the intersection of bioethics, gender, and theology. She is a former teaching faculty member at Harvard Medical School’s Center for Bioethics, served as a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Divinity School’s Center for the Study of World Religions, and as a visiting lecturer for the Women’s Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School. She is also the former associate director of education for the Tuskegee University National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care and a former faculty member in the Tuskegee University College of Agriculture, Environment, and Nutrition Sciences. She is currently Principal Investigator for the Bioethics and Black Church: Addressing Racial Inequalities and Black Women’s Health in North Carolina research project, which examines the potential of the Black church as a resource in addressing the Black maternal health crisis in the U.S.
Dr. Wilson earned her doctorate in religion, ethics, and society from Emory University; her Master of Science degree in agricultural, resource, and managerial economics from Cornell University; and her Master of Divinity degree from the Interdenominational Theological Center. She is a member of the Society for the Study of Black Religion, the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, the American Academy of Religion, and the Center for Reconciliation Advisory Board at Duke Divinity School. Dr. Wilson’s publications include: “‘This is My Body’: Faith Communities as Sites of Transfiguring Vulnerability” in “Bioenhancement and the Vulnerable Body: A Theological Engagement” (Baylor University Press, 2023); her first book, “Economic Ethics and the Black Church” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017); and her second book, “Womanist Bioethics: Social Justice, Spirituality, and Black Women’s Health” (New York University Press).
Guest Speaker, MLK Day Chapel — The Rev. Lamont Wells
The Rev. Lamont Anthony Wells (he/him/his) is the executive director of the Network of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Colleges and Universities (NECU). NECU is an association of 28 colleges and universities affiliated with the ELCA.
Wells also serves as the strategic advisor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Wartburg Theological Seminary and is the immediate past national president of the African Descent Lutheran Association (ADLA).
A dynamic and prophetic speaker, Rev. Wells is a global leader among international communities, serving as a United Nations Fellow since 2021.