Jo Cheryl Exum (May 1946 - November 2024) was a feminist biblical scholar. She was

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

at the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

Education and career

Exum studied at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

, where she received her BA, and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where she received her MA and PhD. Previously, she taught at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

. She served as part of the translation team for the

New Revised Standard Version The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is a translation of the Bible in American English. It was first published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches, the NRSV was created by an ecumenical committee of scholars "comprising about thirt ...

. While at Sheffield, Exum served as Director of the university's Centre for the Study of the Bible in the Modern World. In 2004, Exum co-founded Sheffield Phoenix Press, an academic publisher of books in biblical studies, along with David J. A. Clines and Keith W. Whitelam. Exum held a number of notable leadership positions in academia, including president of the Society for Old Testament Study. She has been the editor of a number of journals in her field. She was the Executive Editor of ''

Biblical Interpretation Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the principles of interpretation concerning the books of the Bible. It is part of the broader field of hermeneutics, which involves the study of principles of interpretation, both theory and methodology, fo ...

'' for more than a decade and co-edited the journal ''Biblical Reception.'' In 2011, a ''

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'' was published in her honour. ''A Critical Engagement: Essays on the Hebrew Bible in Honour of J. Cheryl Exum'' () included contributions by David Clines, Ellen van Wolde, and Michael Fox. On January 30, 2015, Exum received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the Faculty of Theology at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

Selected works

Books

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Exum, J. Cheryl Living people Old Testament scholars Academics of the University of Sheffield Wake Forest University alumni Columbia University alumni Boston College faculty Translators of the Bible into English 1946 births Feminist studies scholars Women biblical scholars Feminist biblical scholars Academic journal editors British women non-fiction writers Female Bible translators Presidents of the Society for Old Testament Study