The Rev. Lisa Garvin, associate dean of the chapel and religious life at Emory University, has been named acting dean of the chapel and religious life, effective Feb. 7.

She will assume on an acting basis the post being vacated by the Rev. Susan Henry-Crowe, who was named general secretary of the United Methodist Church's (UMC) General Board of Church and Society, the denomination's main arm for social justice and advocacy, education and international outreach.

Garvin, a deacon in the UMC, came to Emory as associate dean in 2012.

Prior to joining Emory, Garvin, a native of Hattiesburg, Miss., had served as director of ministerial services for the UMC's Mississippi Conference since 2008.

She served as chaplain to Millsaps College from 2005 to 2008, and as coordinator of ministries with young people for the Mississippi Conference from 2003 to 2005. From 1994 to 1996, she was coordinator of continuing education at the University of Southern Mississippi.

For the UMC, Garvin serves as a director of the church's General Board of Church and Society, and is a member of the United Methodist Leadership Scholars Steering Committee of the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation. She served as a delegate to the church's General and Jurisdictional Conference in 2012.

Currently Garvin also is a member of the Board of Trustees at Millsaps College, where she sits on the Committee on Finance and chairs the Student Life Committee.