BUCKHANNON, West Virginia – When Rev. Angela Gay Kinkead ’79 returned to her alma mater Friday to speak at Baccalaureate, she stepped into a familiar pulpit where she previously spent 14 years as Dean of the Chapel.

Befitting her status as the longest-serving Dean of the Chapel from 2001-2015, Kinkead was named Dean of the Chapel, Emerita by President James Moore.

Moore said, “It’s our honor to bestow this title upon Dean Kinkead. When I arrived at WVWC as a young faculty member in 2006, it became apparent that Angela Gay was a model of student engagement, care, and mentoring. Her 14 years of service to this College bear this out, and students all over the world have been the beneficiaries of her work.”

Beginning with the 2024 Academic and Leadership Award Ceremony, the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life will annually present the Angela Gay Kinkead Award to a student within Religious Life who has demonstrated the ability to unite and move people to action.

Rev. Jonathan Acord, director of Religious and Spiritual Life, said, “The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life is thankful to have been granted the opportunity to acknowledge and honor Rev. Angela Gay Kinkead for her devoted service to West Virginia Wesleyan College, The United Methodist Church, and the community. Through her sacrificial work as Dean of the Chapel, she faithfully demonstrated what it means to be a relational leader and encapsulated the Wesleyan theology of uniting knowledge and vital piety.”

During Kinkead’s tenure at WVWC, she was awarded West Virginia Wesleyan College’s Community Engagement “Unsung Hero” Award and led 11 Alternative Break trips for students including Elektrostal, Russia; Nashville, Tennessee; New York City; Washington, D.C. and eight work teams to post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, Louisiana involving approximately 200 students, staff and faculty.

Kinkead will retire from her most recent appointment as pastor of Elizabeth Memorial United Methodist Church in Charleston, West Virginia at the end of June.