Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has its roots in a Theological Department established in 1822. The school had maintained its own campus, faculty, and degree program since 1869, and it has become more ecumenical beginning in the mid-19th century. Since the 1970s, it has been affiliated with the Episcopal

Berkeley Divinity School Berkeley Divinity School, founded in 1854, is a seminary of The Episcopal Church in New Haven, Connecticut. Along with Andover Newton Theological School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Berkeley is one of the three "Partners on the Quad," ...

and has housed the Institute of Sacred Music, which offers separate degree programs. In July 2017, a two-year process of formal affiliation was completed, with the addition of Andover Newton Seminary joining the school. Over 40 different denominations are represented at YDS.

History

Theological education was the earliest academic purpose of Yale University. When

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

was founded in 1701, it was as a college of religious training for Congregationalist ministers in Connecticut Colony, designated in its charter as a school "wherein Youth may be instructed in the Arts & Sciences who through the blessing of Almighty God may be fitted for Publick employment both in Church & Civil State." A professorship of divinity was established in 1746. In 1817, the occupant of the divinity chair,

Eleazar Thompson Fitch Eleazar (; ) or Elʽazar was a priest in the Hebrew Bible, the second High Priest, succeeding his father Aaron after he died. He was a nephew of Moses. Biblical narrative Eleazar played a number of roles during the course of the Exodus, fro ...

, supported a student request to endow a theological curriculum, and five years later a separate was founded by the Yale Corporation. In the same motion,

Second Great Awakening The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival during the early 19th century in the United States. The Second Great Awakening, which spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching, sparked a number of reform movements. R ...

theologian Nathaniel William Taylor was appointed to become the first Dwight Professor of Didactic Theology. Taylor was considered the "central figure" in the school's founding, and he was joined in 1826 by

Josiah Willard Gibbs, Sr. Josiah Willard Gibbs Sr. (30 April 1790 – 25 March 1861) was an American linguist and theologian, who served as professor of sacred literature at Yale University.Chauncey A. Goodrich in 1839. A dedicated student dormitory, Divinity College, was completed on the college's Old Campus in 1836, but the department had no permanent classrooms or offices until several years after the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

Old Divinity School, Yale University, New Haven, Conn

After a significant period of enrollment decline, the school began fundraising from alumni for new faculty and facilities. Divinity Hall was constructed on the present-day site of Grace Hopper College between 1869 and 1871, featuring two classroom wings and a chapel. Around the time of the new campus' construction came the arrival of new faculty, including James M. Hoppin, George Edward Day, George Park Fisher, and Leonard Bacon. The first Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) was conferred in 1867, and the department became a separate School of Divinity in 1869. The school remained across from Old Campus until 1929, when a new campus was constructed on the northern edge of the university campus, at the top of Prospect Hill. Sterling Divinity Quadrangle

affiliated with Yale Divinity School in 1971, and in the same year the university replaced the B.D. with a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) program. While Berkeley retains its Episcopal Church connection, its students are admitted by and fully enrolled as members of Yale Divinity School.

The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University (also known as the Jonathan Edwards Centre) is a department of the Yale University Divinity School responsible for publishing and providing scholarly information about the works of Jonathan Edwards (17 ...

, a division of the Divinity School, maintains a large collection of primary source materials about Jonathan Edwards, a 1720 Yale alumnus. The Yale Institute of Sacred Music (ISM) is jointly-affiliated with the Divinity School and School of Music. It offers programs in choral conducting, organ performance, voice, and church music studies, and in liturgical studies and religion and the arts. In May 2016,

Andover Newton Theological School Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) was a graduate school and seminary in Newton, Massachusetts. Affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ. It was the product of a merger between Andover Theological ...

president Martin Copenhaver announced that Andover Newton would begin a process of formal affiliation with the Divinity School over the next two years. In the 2016–17 academic year, a cohort of faculty relocated to New Haven teaching students and launching pilot initiatives focused on congregational ministry education, while Andover Newton continued to operate in Massachusetts over the next two years. In July 2017, a formal affiliation was signed, resulting in smaller Andover Newton functioning as a unit within Yale Divinity School, similar to its arrangement with Berkeley. In October 2020, YDS received a $1 million grant from the Lilly Endowment as part of the foundation's Thriving Congregations Initiative to fund a program entitled, "Reimagining Church: New Models for the 21st Century." Reimagining Church will involve 40 congregations in Connecticut as well as YDS students, faculty, and staff over a five-year period. In November 2020, the Yale Divinity School Women's Center revived the publication of ''The Voice Journal of Literary and Theological Ideas'', a feminist journal that initially ran from 1996 to 2002.

Degrees

Yale Divinity School is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) and approved by ATS to grant the following degrees: * Master of Divinity (M.Div.) *

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

Religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

(M.A.R.) * Master of Sacred Theology (S.T.M.) Students pursuing an M.A.R. can choose between
comprehensive
an
concentrated
program. The following concentrations are offered:
Hebrew Bible

Second Temple Judaism

New Testament

Theology

Philosophical Theology

Practical Theology

Ethics

History of Christianity

World Christianity/Missions

Liturgical Studies

Religion & the Arts

Asian Religions

Black Religion in the African Diaspora

Latinx & Latin American Christianity

Religion & Ecology

Women’s/Gender/Sexuality Studies
Students in any degree program at Yale Divinity School can also earn certificates in any of the following areas:
Lutheran Studies

Reformed Studies

Anglican Studies

Catholic Lay Ministerial Studies

United Methodist Studies

Black Church Studies

Andover Newton Seminary
(non-degree diploma)
Educational Leadership and Ministry

Leadership

Gregory E. Sterling, a New Testament scholar and Church of Christ pastor, has been the dean of the divinity school since 2012, succeeding New Testament scholar Harold W. Attridge, who returned to teaching as a Sterling Professor upon completing two five-year terms as dean. The leaders of the affiliated seminaries are Andrew McGowan, Dean and President of Berkeley Divinity School, and Sarah Drummond, Founding Dean of Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School. Organist

Martin Jean Martin David Jean (born 1960) is an American organist considered to be in the "highest ranks of the world's concert organists".Martin Jean ...

is director of the Institute of Sacred Music.

Deans of Yale Divinity School

Campus

When the department was organized as a school in 1869, it was moved to a campus across from the northwest corner of the New Haven Green composed of East Divinity Hall (1869), Marquand Chapel (1871), West Divinity Hall (1871), and the Trowbridge Library (1881). The buildings, designed by Richard Morris Hunt, were demolished under the residential college plan and replaced by Calhoun College, now known as Grace Hopper College. In 1929, the trustees of the estate of lawyer John William Sterling agreed that a portion of his bequest to Yale would be used to build a new campus for the Divinity School. The Sterling Divinity Quadrangle, completed in 1932, is a Georgian-style complex built at the top of Prospect Hill. It was designed by Delano & Aldrich and modeled in part on the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

A $49-million renovation of Sterling Divinity Quadrangle was completed in 2003. Sterling Divinity Quadrangle contains academic buildings, Marquand Chapel, and graduate student housing for YDS students. Yale Divinity School is currently planning the construction of the Living Village, a zero-waste, sustainable living community that will house 155 YDS students.

Notable alumni

* Diogenes Allen (B.D. 1959) *

Ian Barbour Ian Graeme Barbour (1923–2013) was an American scholar on the relationship between science and religion. According to the Public Broadcasting Service his mid-1960s ''Issues in Science and Religion'' "has been credited with literally creating t ...

(B.D. 1956) * Kate Bowler (M.A.R. 2005) * Gregory A. Boyd (M.Div. 1982) * Will D. Campbell (B.D. 1952) * Orishatukeh Faduma (B.D. 1894, graduate study 1895) * William Ragsdale Cannon (B.D. 1940; Ph.D. 1942), Professor and Dean,

Candler School of Theology Candler School of Theology is one of seven graduate schools at Emory University, located in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. A university-based school of theology, Candler educates ministers, scholars of religion and other leaders. It is also o ...

;

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

of the United Methodist Church. * Donald Eric Capps, ( B.D. 1963; S.T.M., 1965), scholar of Pastoral Theology * Roy Clyde Clark, (B.D. 1944),

of the United Methodist Church * William Sloane Coffin (B.D. 1956) * Chris Coons (Master's degree in ethics, 1992),

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

from Delaware * Harvey Cox (B.D. 1955), theologian and

Hollis Professor of Divinity The Hollis Chair of Divinity is an endowed chair at Harvard Divinity School. It was established in 1721 by Thomas Hollis, a wealthy English merchant and benefactor of the university, at a salary of £80 per year. It is the oldest endowed chair in ...

at Harvard Divinity School (1965–2009) * Zebulon Crocker * Raymond Culver, (B.D. 1920), president of Shimer College * Michael Curry (M.Div. 1978), Presiding Bishop of the

Episcopal Church (United States) The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop ...

* John Danforth (M.Div. 1963), former

from Missouri * Walter Fauntroy, (B.D. 1958), Founding Member - Congressional Black Caucus *

David F. Ford David Frank Ford (born 23 January 1948) is an Anglican public theologian. He was the Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, beginning in 1991. He is now an Emeritus Regius Professor of Divinity. His research interests incl ...

(S.T.M.), Regius Professor of Divinity Emeritus at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

* Milton Gaither (M.A.R. 1996), historian of American education * Paul Vernon Galloway, a Bishop of The Methodist Church * Tom Vaughn (Doctorate in theology), jazz musician and Episcopal priest * Leroy Gilbert (S.T.M. 1979) * Gary Hart (B.D. 1961) * Stanley Hauerwas (B.D. 1965) *

Richard B. Hays Richard Bevan Hays (born May 4, 1948) is an American New Testament scholar and George Washington Ivey Professor Emeritus of New Testament Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. He is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. E ...

(M.Div. 1977) * Serene Jones (M.Div. 1985) President of Union Theological Seminary (New_York_City) *

Sen Katayama Sen may refer to: Surname * Sen (surname), a Bengali surname * Şen, a Turkish surname * A variant of the Serer patronym Sène Currency subunit * Etymologically related to the English word ''cent''; a hundredth of the following currencies: ** ...

* Ernest W. Lefever (1945), foreign affairs expert and founder of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. * Sallie McFague (B.D. 1959) * Candida Moss (M.A.R. 2002) * Otis Moss III (M.Div. 1995), Pastor of Trinity Church, Chicago * Reinhold Niebuhr (B.D. 1914, M.A. 1915), Protestant theologian and public intellectual * Richard T. Nolan (M.A. 1967) * Douglas Oldenburg (S.T.M. 1961), President Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary, Presbyterian (USA) pastor. * Julie Faith Parker *

William H. Poteat William H. Poteat (19 April 1919 – 17 May 2000) was an American philosopher, scholar, and charismatic professor of philosophy, religion, and culture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1947 to 1957 and at Duke Univer ...

(B.D. 1944) * Clark V. Poling (1936) *

Peter L. Pond The Reverend Peter Lawrence Pond (1933–2000) was a New England clergyman, activist and philanthropist who worked with Cambodian orphans on the Thai-Cambodian border. He was executive director of the Providence-based Cambodian Crisis Committee a ...

, human rights activist and philanthropist. * Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. (attended 1895–1896) * George Rupp * Father V.C. Samuel (PhD. 1957) Indian Christian Theologian and Historian. * Ron Sider *

John Silber John Robert Silber (August 15, 1926 – September 27, 2012) was an American academician and candidate for public office. From 1971 to 1996, he was President of Boston University (BU) and, from 1996 to 2002, Chancellor. From 2002 to 2003, he again ...

* John Shelby Spong * Amos Alonzo Stagg * Rufus W. Stimson (B.D., 1897), Professor of English and President of the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

Barbara Brown Taylor Barbara Brown Taylor (born 1951) is an American Episcopal priest, academic, and author. In 2014, ''Time'' magazine placed her in its annual ''Time'' 100 list of most influential people in the world. Education and recognition Taylor was born on S ...

(M.Div. 1976) * Roy M. Terry (B.D. 1942) * Krista Tippett (M.Div. 1994) *

R. A. Torrey Reuben Archer Torrey (28 January 1856 – 26 October 1928) was an American evangelist, pastor, educator, and writer. He aligned with Keswick theology. Biography Torrey was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, the son of a banker. He graduated from ...

(B.D. 1878) *

John W. Traphagan John Willis Traphagan is a mystery novelist and Professor of Human Dimensions of Organizations, Religious Studies, and Anthropology and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin and a Visiting Professor at the Center ...

(M.A.R. 1986), professor of Religious Studies and Anthropology,

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

* Glenn M. Wagner (M.Div. 1978) *

Chester Wickwire Chester "Chet" L. Wickwire (December 11, 1913 – August 31, 2008) was the American chaplain emeritus of the Johns Hopkins University. He was a prominent fighter for civil rights and an international peace activist. Reverend Wickwire was remembered ...

(B.D. 1946) * Parker T. Williamson (M.Phil.) * William Willimon (M.Div. 1971)

Notable past professors

Former faculty: 20th–21st centuries

* Roland Bainton *

Brevard Childs Brevard Springs Childs (September 2, 1923 – June 23, 2007) was an American Old Testament scholar and Professor of Old Testament at Yale University from 1958 until 1999 (and Sterling Professor after 1992), who is considered one of the most inf ...

* Rebecca Chopp * Adela Yarbro Collins, 2000–2015 * Jerome Davis *

Margaret Farley Margaret A. Farley (born April 15, 1935) is an American religious sister and a member of the Catholic Sisters of Mercy. She was Gilbert L. Stark Professor Emerita of Christian Ethics at Yale University Divinity School, where she taught Christian ...

* Hans Wilhelm Frei * Paul L. Holmer * Serene Jones * David Kelsey * Kenneth Scott Latourette *

George Lindbeck George Arthur Lindbeck (March 10, 1923 – January 8, 2018) was an American Lutheran theologian. He was best known as an ecumenicist and as one of the fathers of postliberal theology. Early life and education Lindbeck was born on March 10, 19 ...

* Sallie McFague *

Douglas Clyde Macintosh Douglas Clyde Macintosh (1877–1948) was a Canadian theologian. Biography Macintosh was born in Breadalbane, Ontario, on 18 February 1877 and received his undergraduate degree from McMaster University when it was in Toronto. In 1907 was ordai ...

* Reinhold Niebuhr *

H. Richard Niebuhr Helmut Richard Niebuhr (September 3, 1894 – July 5, 1962) is considered one of the most important Christian theological ethicists in 20th-century America, best known for his 1951 book ''Christ and Culture'' and his posthumously published book ...

* Henri Nouwen, 1971–1981 *

Liston Pope Liston Corlando Pope (6 September 1909 — 15 April 1974) was an American clergyman, author, theological educator, and dean of Yale University Divinity School from 1949 to 1962. Early life Pope was born in Thomasville, North Carolina, the son of Ro ...

(Dean) *

Letty M. Russell Letty Mandeville Russell (September 20, 1929 – July 12, 2007) was a feminist theologian, professor, and prolific author. She was a member of the first class of women admitted to Harvard Divinity School, and one of the first women ordained in th ...

(1974–2001) * Lamin Sanneh * Emilie Townes * Denys Turner *

Nicholas Wolterstorff Nicholas Paul Wolterstorff (born January 21, 1932) is an American philosopher and theologian. He is currently Noah Porter Professor Emeritus Philosophical Theology at Yale University. A prolific writer with wide-ranging philosophical and theologi ...

* Henry Burt Wright (1877-1923)

Former faculty: 19th century

* Lyman Beecher * George Park Fisher

Current faculty (ca. 2019)

* Harold W. Attridge * Teresa Berger * John J. Collins *Michal Beth Dinkler *

John E. Hare John Edmund Hare (born 26 July 1949) is a British classicist, philosopher, ethicist, and currently Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology at Yale University. Biography He received a Bachelor of Arts honours in Literae Humaniores in 197 ...

*Erika Helgen *Jennifer A. Herdt * Willie James Jennings *Yii-Jan Lin *Eboni Marshall Turman *Donyelle McCray * Andrew McGowan *Joyce Mercer *Mary Clark Moschella *Laura Nasrallah *Sally M. Promey *Melanie Ross *Janet Ruffing *Carolyn J. Sharp *Chloë Starr *

Kathryn Tanner Kathryn Eileen Tanner (born 1957) is an American theologian who serves as Frederick Marquand Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School. Biography Born on March 29, 1957, Tanner earned her BA, MA, MPhil, and PhD degrees from Yale ...

*Gabrielle Thomas *Linn Tonstad * Jacqueline Vayntrub * Miroslav Volf *Tisa Wenger * Christian Wiman *Almeda M. Wright

References

External links

Yale Divinity School website

Berkeley Divinity School at Yale

Andover Newton Seminary at Yale
{{authority control Religion and science Educational institutions established in 1822 1822 establishments in Connecticut Seminaries and theological colleges in Connecticut Divinity School Christian seminaries and theological colleges