The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is pleased to announce that Rev. Valerie Miles-Tribble, PhD DMin, Professor of Ministerial Leadership and Practical Theology and Chair of the Women's Studies in Religion Certificate Program, has been selected as the recipient of the GTU Excellence in Teaching Award for 2025. The honor was announced at the GTU Commencement exercises on May 22.
BERKELEY, CA-May 27, 2025- The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is pleased to announce that Rev. Valerie Miles-Tribble, PhD DMin, Professor of Ministerial Leadership and Practical Theology and Chair of the Women's Studies in Religion Certificate Program, has been selected as the recipient of the GTU Excellence in Teaching Award for 2025. The honor was announced at the GTU Commencement exercises on May 22.
The Excellence in Teaching Award is presented annually to a member of the GTU’s core doctoral faculty who exemplifies the values of interreligious sensitivity and commitment, takes an interdisciplinary approach, embraces ethnic and cultural diversity, and employs creative and effective pedagogical methods.
“It is a great pleasure to recognize Dr. Miles-Tribble with the 2025 Excellence in Teaching Award,” said Dean Christopher Ocker. Valerie’s students call her an “all in” teacher, persistent and patient, a Black Womanist scholar who brings “theoethical praxis” to bear on ministry, community, and academia, a teacher who demands students, as one has said, “to show up with their own whole selves, to find their voice, figure out what they are doing there, and engage with both the scholarly community and the world at large.”
In her teaching and research, Dr. Miles-Tribble primarily focuses on womanist theoethics, practical theology, and leadership formation for faith-based justice advocacy. A frequent speaker, writer, and mentor, she is deeply invested in equipping future religious leaders to challenge oppressive systems and nurture liberatory communities through scholarship, ethics, and spiritual grounding.
“Oh my! I was so excited to receive this extraordinary news from Dean Ocker—and truly humbled—because this recognition comes directly from our students,” said Dr. Miles-Tribble. “This award affirms my love for interactive teaching and learning alongside our brilliant student scholars. At the GTU, I strive to create classroom environments like a jazz ensemble—spaces where improvisation, diverse voices, and creative discovery come together to form new harmonies of justice, faith, and learning. This is a special place, and I’m honored to be part of its life.”
She describes her pedagogical approach as “somewhat subversive,” inviting students to critically engage traditional or inherited theological frameworks through a justice-driven lens. In classes such as Womanist Theoethics, students co-create learning by incorporating spoken word, poetry, music, and spiritual reflection—what Dr. Miles-Tribble calls “improvisational instruments” for interactive and transformative scholarship.
“We don’t rely on cookie-cutter methodologies,” she said. “I love how new scholarly seeds germinate as we help students find their soul freedom—honing analytical skills and critical thinking to the contextual realities of our times. Together, students and faculty become mutual co-conspirators in the subversive creativity of new ideas as life-affirming.”
The GTU Excellence in Teaching Award was instituted in 2003. Previous winners include Dr. Eugene Eung-Chun Park (2024), Dr. Ted F. Peters (2023), Dr. Devin P. Zuber (2022), Dr. Mary E. McGann (2021), Dr. Rebecca K. Esterson (2020), and Dr. Arthur Holder (2019).