Dr. Valerie Bridgeman is Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs, as well as Associate Professor of Homiletics and Hebrew Bible at Methodist Theological School of Ohio. She also is founding president and CEO of WomanPreach! Inc. —the premiere non-profit organization that brings preachers to full prophetic voice. She has been in licensed or ordained ministry since 1977 and was received in the United Methodist Church as an Elder in full connection in the West Ohio Conference in June 2024.
Dr. Bridgeman is active in several professional academic guilds and has been inducted into the Society for the Study of Black Religion and the Martin Luther King Jr. Collegium of Scholars and Preachers at Morehouse College.
Dr. Bridgeman earned her Ph.D. in biblical studies (Hebrew Bible concentration) with secondary studies in ethics from Baylor University. She earned her Master of Divinity from Austin Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas, and was named a Distinguish Alumna of the institution in 2018. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in Communication and Religion from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.
She is a peace activist and advocate for human rights.