Dean Greg Sterling made the following announcement to the YDS community on June 2, 2020.
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Dear Colleagues,
There are transitions among the faculty every year. Here are our notable promotions and retirements, and one departure, as we conclude 2019-2020.
Promotions
Four faculty were promoted this last year. Chloë Starr was promoted from Associate Professor to Professor of Asian Christianity and Theology. Chloë is one of the world’s authorities on Christian theology in China, bringing together literary and theological expertise. Her first book showcased the former (Red Light Novels of the Late Qing) and her second the latter (Chinese Theology: Text and Context). Chinese Theology defined a field that some thought was not definable. This is because there are not regular faculty appointments in Christianity in Chinese universities; most theological work is done by scholars in other fields or by individuals outside the academy. She will combine both areas of her expertise in her next monograph, The Life of Christ in Chinese Christian Fiction. She is currently completing A Reader in Chinese Theology, which is expected to be published in 2021. Chloë now heads the World Christianity program at YDS.
Two faculty earned tenure. Michal Beth Dinkler is a specialist in the New Testament with a focus on the narrative dimensions of the text. Her first work, Silent Statements: Narrative Representations of Speech and Silence in the Gospel of Luke, explored the role of silence in illuminating causation and influencing the plot in the Gospel of Luke. Her second work, Literary Theory and the New Testament, brings narrative theory to the mainstream of biblical scholarship across the entire New Testament. She has drafts of two more manuscripts that will appear in the next couple of years. She is not only a prolific scholar but an excellent pedagogue: she won an Inspiring Yale Faculty Award in 2016 for her teaching.
Linn Tonstad also earned tenure. Linn is a specialist in systematic theology and queer theory. The combination is creative and makes her work compellingly fresh. Her first monograph, God and Difference: The Trinity, Sexuality, and the Transformation of Finitude, argues that queer theory creates a concept of communion without subordination in God, a proposition that has significant anthropological implications. Her second monograph, Queer Theology: Beyond Apologetics, is not simply an introduction to the field but shapes a new agenda for it. She is in the process of completing a third monograph, The Impossible Other. Linn is widely recognized as one of the most creative systematic theologians of her generation.
Finally, Erika Helgen was promoted from Assistant to Associate Professor of Latinx Christianity. Erika is a historian who specializes in Latin America, more specifically Brazil. Her first monograph, Religious Conflicts in Brazil: Protestants, Catholics, and the Rise of Religious Pluralism in the Early Twentieth Century, is due out from Yale Press this month. By uncovering previously unknown archives, Erika explores the tensions between Catholics and Protestants in Brazil from 1916 to 1945. She is now at work on a second monograph, Catholic Crossroads: The Latin American Roots of Global Catholic Reform, which broadens her field of research to include Mexico and Nicaragua in particular. She is poised to become one of the major historians of Christianity in Latin America, especially Brazil. She was a major contributor to the formation of our M.A.R. concentration in Latinx Christianity.
It is worth noting that all four promotions were promotions of women. This seems particularly appropriate in the 50/150 Year of Women at Yale University.
Retirements
Three professors have retired from the faculty this year. We have published career-retrospective profiles of them—see links below—but I would like to recognize each of them personally in this note as well.
Professor Harry Attridge is retiring after a storied career as a New Testament scholar and as a transformative dean of YDS. Harry justly holds a Sterling Professorship, the only faculty member at YDS to do so (Sterling professorships are considered the highest faculty appointment at Yale). He is the author or co-author of nine books and editor or co-editor of twenty-four books. He has been president of the Society of Biblical Literature (2001) and the Catholic Biblical Association (2011-2012). He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015. He was dean of YDS from 2002 to 2012. Prior to becoming dean, Harry led the renovations of the Quad. While dean, he built a first-rate faculty and made student aid a priority—efforts that restored the academic reputation of the School. I have known Harry for more than three decades: he was on the committee that hired me at Notre Dame and later my dean there. I will miss him personally as well as professionally. He and Jan plan to remain in New Haven. You can find our recent profile of Harry here.
Professor Janet Ruffing is retiring after capably leading the program in Spirituality for the last decade. She had previously led a similar program at Fordham from which she retired. We are grateful that she has given us a second career: Janet has been not only led the program in Spirituality, she has been the backbone of it as students from the last decade can attest. She is a significant scholar in the field: she is the author of five monographs and the editor of another volume. Janet and I were students together at the Graduate Theological Union. I will miss her not only for her work but for her presence: she and I wear the same academic robes on occasions when the faculty process. Her standing with her colleagues has led me to ask her to lead the faculty on numerous occasions. Janet is moving back home to California. I encourage you to read the profile of Janet that we ran back in February.
Finally, Professor Bob Wilson is stepping aside after 56 years of affiliation with Yale, first as a student and then for 48 years as a member of the faculty. He has a joint appointment at the Divinity School and in the Department of Religious Studies. Bob is the author of three monographs and editor of another. His most famous work, Prophecy in Ancient Israel, was translated into Korean and Portuguese. It was required reading for a generation of students—I still remember reading it as a doctoral student. He is famous for his Old Testament Interpretation course, which thousands of students have taken over four decades at YDS. He has also been a capable administrator: he served as chair of the Department of Religious Studies on two occasions (1986-1992, 1995-1996) and as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at YDS (2004-2008). When I have wanted a historical perspective on an issue, I have routinely asked Bob. Ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), he shares a common religious tradition with me (Churches of Christ). We will all miss him for many reasons. He and Sharyn plan to continue living in the area. Here is the profile of Bob that we published earlier this spring.
If you had a course with one of these professors, I urge you to write them a note of appreciation as they move into a new phase of their lives. They have each made significant contributions to YDS.
Departure
There is one other member of the faculty who is making a transition. Benjamin Valentin came to us with Andover Newton Theological School, where he had been a tenured professor. He joined us as an associate professor on term. This spring he was offered a position as a tenured professor at Boston College and accepted it. This restores him to the rank that he had at Andover Newton. It also allows him to work closer to home; he had not moved to Connecticut. We are thrilled for him, even though we will miss him. I want to express our appreciation for his work at YDS, especially for his efforts to develop and launch the M.A.R. concentration in Latinx Studies. As a scholar, Ben has been an important voice in bringing Latinx perspectives into conversation with Protestant theology in particular. We wish him well.
Best wishes,
Greg Sterling