The Board of Trustees at Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) accomplished several key objectives in November 2023: the reelection of the Very Rev. Dr Chad Hatfield as Seminary President for a new 5-year term; the election of Dr Nick Pandelidis to Executive Chair, and the appointment of three new trustees, the Very Rev. Dr Philip LeMasters, Jennifer Lyday, and Dr Craig George. The board ratified the new elections in an in-person session chaired by His Beatitude, The Most Blessed Tikhon. In addition to the elections, former Executive Chair, the Rev. Dn Michael Hyatt, was made Trustee Emeritus, and two Board members, David Hicks and Wesley Smith, ended their terms. In addition to finalizing changes in membership during this latest board meeting, trustees were introduced to Andrew Schachtner, who began his tenure as Chief Financial Officer at St Vladimir’s Seminary in August 2023.
“We extend our deepest thanks to departing board members, David Hicks and Wesley Smith for their years of dedicated service to the Seminary,” said Fr Chad Hatfield. “We also welcome the official election of Dr Nick Pandelidis to Executive Chair, and our three incoming board members. The new trustees represent a range of Orthodox jurisdictions and professional backgrounds, adding their experience to the already distinguished group of leaders who guide the work of St Vladimir’s Seminary.
“I also humbly thank the entire board for their trust and partnership in electing me for another chapter as Seminary President. In addition to completing the most recent round of elections, I am pleased to highlight the recent confirmation of yet another clean financial audit at St Vladimir’s Seminary; thanks to the efforts of our financial staff and the Board of Trustees, this year marks sixty years of clean financial audits at the Seminary.”
About the Newly Elected Trustees:
Dr Nicholas Pandelidis returned to serve as a SVOTS Trustee in November 2022, after previously serving for 15 years (2005-2020). He has been serving as interim Board Chair since May 2023, and was unanimously elected as Executive Board Chair in the most recent meeting in November 2023. He is a founding member of OSS Health, and a member of St John Chrysostom Orthodox Church and Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in York, PA.
Father Philip LeMasters is the pastor of St Luke Orthodox Christian Church in Abilene, TX. Having grown up Baptist and then explored various Protestant denominations, he became Orthodox in 2000 along with his wife and two daughters. Fr. Philip received a Ph.D. in Christian Theology and Ethics from Duke University and is also a graduate of Rice and Baylor. Through the Antiochian House of Studies, he earned an M.A. in Applied Orthodox Theology from the St John of Damascus School of Theology of the University of Balamand. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2006. His day job is Professor of Religion and Director of the Honors Program at McMurry University. Fr Philip previously served as a member of the SVOTS Board of Trustees from 2008-2020 and has taught hybrid courses as Professor of Christian Ethics at the Seminary.
Closer to home, Fr Philip regularly introduces visiting groups of students from local universities to the Orthodox Faith. He has also spoken about Eastern Christianity at Methodist, Episcopal, and Church of Christ congregations in Abilene. He has spoken at international Orthodox conferences in Greece, Romania, the Netherlands, the Republic of Georgia, and Syria, and has also led retreats in Orthodox churches in Beaumont, TX, and Toronto, Canada.
Jennifer Lyday is a partner at Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC, a law firm in Winston-Salem, NC which typically represents distressed businesses, creditors, unsecured creditors’ committees, trustees, and buyers of assets in bankruptcy sales. She is currently on the panel of Subchapter 5 Chapter 11 Trustees for the Middle District of North Carolina. Jennifer has also counseled clients in complex civil litigation. Her civil litigation experience includes officers' and directors' liability, personal injury, premises liability, wrongful death, and professional negligence defense. In addition, Jennifer has significant pro bono experience, particularly in helping domestic violence victims obtain 50-B protection orders, working with Legal Aid of North Carolina. She also regularly represents parents of children abducted and taken into the United States in Hague Convention cases. Jennifer is also a frequent lecturer at continuing legal education seminars. Jennifer is an active member of her parish, Holy Cross Orthodox Church (OCA) in Kernersville, North Carolina, and serves on her parish council.
Dr Craig George is a semi-retired diagnostic radiologist who formerly served as chairman of the radiology departments at the Veterans Affairs Medical System of Northeast Ohio and Kaiser-Permanente of Ohio. His master’s degree in organizational development has supplemented his work professionally and also as a trustee at the Cuyahoga County Health System. He has served as chair of the parish council of his local parish, St Matthew Antiochian Orthodox Church. Serving as a trustee at SVOTS is an opportunity to give back to the Church which has provided so much to him. He is married with three children and five grandchildren.
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