Fellow of Theology Dr. Ben Merkle is the College’s second President, having previously served as the Undergraduate Dean. He holds a D.Phil. in Oriental Studies and an M.St. in Jewish Studies from Oxford University, England, a Master’s degree in English Literature, and a B.S. in Education (Secondary Education-Chemistry, with a minor in History) both from the University of Idaho. He also studied theology at Greyfriars Hall from 1998 to 2000.
Dr. Merkle served as a Lecturer at New Saint Andrews from 2000 until 2005, when he was promoted to Fellow of Theology. He has taught the freshman introductory theology course, Lordship Colloquium, and Hebrew. He has also team-taught Anglo-Saxon. Dr. Merkle was promoted to the office of President in 2015.
He has served as a minister at Christ Church, Moscow. He previously served as a part-time campus minister with Collegiate Reformed Fellowship, a campus ministry of Christ Church.
Dr. Merkle is the author of The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2009) and Defending the Trinity in the Reformed Palatinate: The Elohistae (Oxford University Press 2015). He is a contributing editor and former managing editor of the periodical Credenda/Agenda.
He and wife Bekah (B.A., 1998), the first graduate of New Saint Andrews, have five children.