Release date: Dec. 11, 2002
Contact: Elaine Justice, Associate Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-727-0643 or ejustic@emory.edu

Emory Professor to Head Society of Biblical Literature

David L. Petersen, professor of Old Testament at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, has been elected vice-president of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) at the society’s annual meeting in Toronto. Petersen will serve as vice-president for a year and become president at the next annual meeting, scheduled for Atlanta in late November 2003. Since 1994 he has served on the SBL executive committee and chaired the research and publications committee.

Petersen is a distinguished scholar whose research focuses on the phenomenon of Israelite prophecy and the early chapters of Genesis. He has been a member of editorial teams for several significant projects, including serving as Old Testament editor for "The New Interpreter’s Bible," and on the editorial advisory board for the "Old Testament Library." He also is co-editor of the "Oxford Access Bible," associate editor of "HarperCollins Bible Commentary, Revised Edition" and co-author of "A Theological Introduction to the Old Testament."

The SBL is the premier academic professional society for specialists in Biblical studies. Its annual meeting, held with the American Academy of Religion, brings together 9,000 people including about 1,800 registrants from around the world. The society supports study in a non-sectarian atmosphere. Christians from many theological traditions as well as Jews work within the society in pursuit of clearer understandings of the Bible and its historic and contemporary meaning. In partnership with publisher HarperCollins, the SBL has produced resources for lay Bible study. Its own press produces technical books and magazines.

Carol Newsom, professor of Old Testament at Candler, says that Petersen’s work as head of the society’s research and publications committee helped guide the SBL through a critical time, as it transferred its publications program from Scholars Press to an in-house publishing operation. "He brings to the presidency a depth of knowledge about the society that few can equal," she says.

Petersen came to Candler from Iliff School of Theology in September 2002. At Iliff he was the Clifford E. Baldridge Professor of Biblical Studies and director of the joint Ph.D. program offered with the University of Denver.

An ordained Presbyterian minister (PCUSA), Petersen received his doctorate from Yale University, where he also earned a master’s degree in philosophy and bachelor’s degree in divinity. He also studied at Universität Tübingen in Germany.

Candler has produced two SBL officers in the last decade. In addition to Petersen, Gene Tucker, professor of Old Testament emeritus, served as president in 1996.

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