August 05, 2025
One of the world’s most respected leaders in cross-cultural and cross-religious dialogue, Antepli will lead the Chapel into the future.
Houston, TX – The Board of Directors of the Rothko Chapel announced today that it has unanimously elected Abdullah Antepli as the Chapel’s new President. A globally recognized leader in cross-religious and cross-cultural dialogue, Antepli brings decades of stewardship, scholarship, and advocacy across higher education and the nonprofit sector. He will assume the role on September 1, 2025.
A Turkish-born American imam and one of the few scholars working at the convergence of faith, ethics, and public policy, Antepli brings a deep commitment to pluralism and intellectual diversity – values core to the Chapel’s mission. Since its founding in 1971, the Chapel has stood as an international beacon at the intersection of spirituality, art, and human rights. Under Antepli’s leadership, it will continue to expand its global reach as a platform for interfaith engagement and social justice rooted in spiritual inquiry.
“Abdullah’s spirit, values, and successes resonate deeply with the Rothko Chapel’s mission,” said Troy Porter, Chair of the Board. “We are confident that he will successfully implement the ambitious strategic plan we’ve just adopted, and that his leadership will guide the Chapel into its next chapter as a convening space for spiritual exploration, artistic expression, and the pursuit of justice.”
“It is with great excitement and a deep sense of purpose that I join the Rothko Chapel – a sanctuary where the sacred, the artistic, and the just converge. I am eager to walk alongside the Rothko Chapel family as we write the next chapter of its remarkable journey,” said Antepli. “At a time when the world is fracturing along religious, partisan, and ideological lines, the Rothko Chapel dares to offer a sacred space where art, silence, and justice meet, and I am humbled to help steward that space forward.”
Christopher Rothko, son of Mark Rothko and former Chair of the Board, said, “Abdullah Antepli’s work embodies the essence of the Rothko Chapel mission – to strive for justice through listening, understanding, and collaboration. We have hired a superb leader who will bring our work regularly to the national and international stage, even as we grow deeper and wider roots in the Houston community.”
Antepli has long been a leading voice in interfaith dialogue and the role of spiritual leadership in public life. He has dedicated his career to building bridges across religious, cultural, and ideological divides, both within academic institutions and in communities around the world.
Antepli currently serves as Director of POLIS: Center for Politics at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy, where he is also Professor of the Practice of Interfaith Relations. One of his first acts as Director was integrating the Civil Discourse Project into POLIS, broadening the center's scope and sharpening its focus on the civic and moral dimensions of public life. Since 2012, he has been a senior fellow on Jewish-Muslim relations at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, where he founded and co-directs the Muslim Leadership Initiative. Antepli completed his graduate work at Hartford Seminary and his undergraduate studies at Ondokuz Mayis University in Turkey.
Earlier in his career, Antepli led faith-based humanitarian and relief efforts in Myanmar and Malaysia through the Association of Social and Economic Solidarity with Pacific Countries (1996-2003). He later served as Wesleyan University’s first Muslim chaplain (2003-2005), then as Associate Director of the Islamic Chaplaincy Program and Interfaith Relations at Hartford Seminary, where he also taught as an adjunct faculty member. Antepli then served as Duke University's first Muslim chaplain and Director of its Center for Muslim Life (2008-2014), and later as its chief representative for Muslim affairs (2014-2019). He also held the position of Associate Director of the Duke Islamic Studies Center (2014-2015).
Among his many honors and accolades, Antepli is the only Muslim chaplain to have delivered prayer at the House of Representatives, first in 2010 and again in 2017. He has been named to The NonProfit Times’ Power & Influence Top 50 as a leading innovator for his work to create global networks. In 2022, he was honored by the Anti-Defamation League with the Daniel Pearl Award for his work to build bridges of understanding between Jews and Muslims and for promoting peace and religious tolerance. In 2023, Antepli was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Antepli was selected following a national search. He succeeds David Leslie, who retired in June 2025 after ten years at the Chapel.