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The Rt. Rev. R. William Franklin continues to serve the Anglican Studies concentration at Union Theological Seminary as an adjunct professor. Bishop Franklin served as Diocesan Bishop of Western New York from 2011 until April 2019. Before his consecration as bishop he served as professor at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, Harvard Divinity School, The General Theological Seminary, as Dean of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, on the staff of Trinity Church, Copley Square, in Boston, and as Interim Director of the Anglican Center in Rome. In addition to his role at Union Theological Seminary, Bishop Franklin serves as Assisting Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island.

He is the author or co-author of seven books, and he is married to Carmela Vircillo Franklin who is a professor of classics at Columbia University.

Bishop Franklin currently serves as Chair of the General Convention Standing Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Work, as Chair of the General Convention General Board of Examining Chaplains, which administers the General Ordination Exams (GOEs), and as a member of the Theology Committee of the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church.

As Bishop of Western New York, Bishop Franklin was particularly active as a public advocate of racial equity in Buffalo and the surrounding areas, and he received the 2019 Racial Healing and Transformation Award of the Union of Black Episcopalians.