The Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, is one of ten graduate or professional schools within Duke University. It is also one of thirteen seminaries founded and supported by the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelica ...

. It has 39 regular rank faculty and 15 joint, secondary or adjunct faculty, and, as of 2017, an enrollment of 543

full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit that indicates the workload of an employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often used to measure a ...

students. The current dean of the Divinity School is the Rev. Dr. Edgardo Colón-Emeric, who assumed the deanship on Aug. 31, 2021. Former deans include the prominent New Testament scholar Richard B. Hays, who stepped down in 2015.

History

The Divinity School was founded in 1926 as the first graduate school at Duke, following a large endowment by James B. Duke, a

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ch ...

magnate, in 1924. The Divinity School carries on from the original founding of Trinity College in 1859, which provided free training for Methodist preachers in exchange for support from the church. Though the school is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, it is also ecumenical in outlook and has both faculty and students from a variety of denominations. The Divinity School consists of three buildings: the original Gray Building, the Langford Building, and the Westbrook Building. The most recent building is the Hugh A. Westbrook Building, which opened in 2005 and is . It also contains the 315-seat Bishop W. Kenneth Goodson Chapel with -high ceilings, office space, a bookstore, cafe, outdoor patio, and a 177-seat lecture hall. Stanley Hauerwas, considered one of the leading exponents of postliberal and narrative approaches to theology, was a longtime professor at Duke Divinity School, serving as the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' magazine named Hauerwas "America's Best Theologian" in 2001. Hauerwas retired in 2013, but continues to write and speak at Duke as a senior research fellow. Duke Divinity also benefits from the resources of The Duke Endowment, providing an outlet for this fund's support of higher education and the rural church in North Carolina. Resources from the Charlotte, NC–based endowment go to underwrite Divinity School programs for field education, continuing education, the Thriving Rural Communities Initiative, and Hispanic Ministries. The Divinity School also receives support from the Ministerial Education Fund of the United Methodist Church for student financial aid, faculty support, and other core mission programs of the school.

Notable faculty

* Jeremy Begbie, Thomas A. Langford Distinguished Professor of Theology and director of the Duke Initiatives in Theology and the Arts * Luke Bretherton, Robert E. Cushman Distinguished Professor of Moral and Political Theology *

Ellen F. Davis Ellen F. Davis (born November 20, 1950) is an American theologian and Old Testament scholar. She is the Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity School. Biography Davis has degrees from University ...

, Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology * Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Divinity and Law *

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. ...

, Former dean and George Washington Ivey Professor Emeritus of New Testament * Frederick Herzog, systematic theologian and champion of civil rights, on the faculty from 1960 to 1995 * L. Gregory Jones, Dean of the Divinity School as well as Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams Jr. Distinguished Professor of Theology and Christian Ministry (also a Duke University alumnus) * Richard Alan Lischer, James T. and Alice Mead Cleland Professor Emeritus of Preaching *C. Kavin Rowe, George Washington Ivey Distinguished Professor of New Testament *

Timothy Tyson Timothy B. Tyson (born 1959) is an American writer and historian who specializes in the issues of culture, religion, and race associated with the Civil Rights Movement. He is a senior research scholar at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duk ...

, Former Visiting Professor of American Christianity and Southern Culture * Geoffrey Wainwright, Robert Earl Cushman Professor Emeritus of Christian Theology *

Samuel Wells Samuel Wells (August 15, 1801 – July 15, 1868) was an American politician and the 25th Governor of Maine. Biography Samuel Wells was born in Durham, New Hampshire on August 15, 1801. He was educated at local schools, studied law, and was adm ...

, research professor of Christian ethics at Duke Divinity School from 2005 to 2012 *

Lauren Winner Lauren Frances Winner (born 1976) is an American historian, scholar of religion, and Episcopal priest. She is Associate Professor of Christian Spirituality at Duke Divinity School. Winner writes and lectures on Christian practice, the history of ...

, Associate Professor of Christian Spirituality * William Willimon, Professor of Practice of Christian Ministry as well as former United Methodist Church bishop *Norman Wirzba, Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor of Christian Theology as well as Senior Fellow at the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University

Notable alumni

* Edwin Charles Boulton ( M.Div. 1953) – a

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

* Kenneth H. Carter Jr. ( M.Div.) – a

of the

and Bishop-in-Residence at Duke Divinity School *

Finis Alonzo Crutchfield Jr. Finis Alonzo Crutchfield Jr. ( – ) was a noted American clergyman and a bishop in the United Methodist Church. He began his pastoral career after graduating from Duke University Divinity School in 1940. His first assignment was First United Me ...

(1940) – bishop of the United Methodist Church (1972–1974) *

Ernest A. Fitzgerald Ernest A. Fitzgerald (24 July 1925 – 27 September 2001) was an American bishop of the United Methodist Church, elected in 1984. Birth and family He was born in Crouse, North Carolina. He married Sarah Frances Perry of Wingate, North Carolina 24 ...

(B.D. degree, 1951) – retired bishop of the United Methodist Church * Amile Jefferson (MA in Christian Studies 2017) – NBA player with the Orlando Magic, first Duke basketball player to be a 4 time All-ACC Academic All-Star. *

Vergel L. Lattimore Vergel L. Lattimore is a retired brigadier general in the United States Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air milit ...

( M.Div. 1977) – Air National Guard brigadier general * Deidre Palmer, president of the

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...

from 8 July 2018 *

Gregory V. Palmer Gregory Vaughn Palmer (born August 8, 1954) is an American bishop of The United Methodist Church, elected in 2000. He was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Herbert Palmer, is also a United Methodist pastor. Education ...

( M.Div. 1979) – former president of the United Methodist Council of

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

(2008–2010) * Andrew Purves (Th. M. degree) – holds the Hugh Thomson Kerr Chair in Pastoral Theology at

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (PTS) is a Presbyterian graduate seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1794, it houses one of the largest theological libraries in the tri-state area. History Pittsburgh Theological Seminary was forme ...

Mack B. Stokes Marion "Mack" Boyd Stokes (December 21, 1911 – November 21, 2012) was an American bishop of the United Methodist Church, elected in 1972. He was born in Wonsan, Korea of missionary parents. He is a graduate of Asbury College ( A.B. degre ...

(B.D. degree, 1935) – retired bishop of the United Methodist Church * Randall Wallace (Did not graduate, but did attend) – Hollywood screenwriter, producer and director, involved with '' Braveheart,'' ''The Man in the Iron Mask,'' ''Pearl Harbor,'' and ''We Were Soldiers'' *

Roy Kinneer Patteson Jr. Roy Kinneer Patteson Jr. was an American scholar whose knowledge of Biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac and Hellenistic Greek enabled him to undertake an analysis of the text of the Ben Sira Scroll discovered at Masada in Palestine in 1964. His re ...

, Th.M, 1964; Ph.D graduate studies in religion 1967. Noted ancient language scholar, authority on the origin of the alphabet and former president of Southern Virginia University and King College *Sandra Steiner Ball (M.Div. 1987) – a

of the

Jacob C. Martinson Jr. Jacob C. Martinson was the president of High Point University from 1985 to 2005. He graduated from the Duke Divinity School in 1957. Martinson is an ordained United Methodist minister and has served as President of Andrew College in Georgia and ...

(1957) – former president of Andrew College, Brevard College, and High Point University *

Beverly Roberts Gaventa Beverly Roberts Gaventa is Distinguished Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Baylor UniversityBaylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...

and Helen H.P. Manson Professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis Emerita at

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly o ...

*Hugh A. Westbrook (M.Div., 1970) – hospice pioneer and co-founder of Hospice Care, Inc (later VITAS Healthcare) *Ryan P. Tinetti (D.Min., 2018) – pastor of historic Trinity Lutheran Church ( Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod) Arcadia, MI.

Awards and prizes

Among its student awards, the Divinity School awards a prize for Excellence in Writing in honor of the American theologian and writer, Frederick Buechner. Winners of the prize are selected by faculty in recognition of their significant achievements in these areas. Other annual student awards include the Award for Excellence in Bible, the Hoyt Hickman Award for Excellence in Liturgics, and the Jameson Jones Preaching Award.

References

External links

*
Duke UniversityThe Religion in North Carolina Digital Collection
{{authority control Divinity School Methodism in North Carolina Seminaries and theological colleges in North Carolina United Methodist seminaries Educational institutions established in 1926 1926 establishments in North Carolina Protestant seminaries and theological colleges