Chopp named dean at Yale Divinity School

Christian Century, April 11, 2001

Emory University provost Rebecca Chopp, current president of the American Academy of Religion, will be the next dean of Yale University Divinity School--the first female dean in the history of a theological school founded in 1701.

Starting July 1, Chopp will be responsible for all operations of the divinity school and will serve as an advocate for the school within Yale's university system. The ordained United Methodist minister has taught theology at the Atlanta campus since 1986, serving as provost the past two years.

She foresees challenges to Christian churches' role in the 21st century. "Over the next few years I will assist the faculty, staff and students to fashion theological education in light of how we build religious communities in the context of world Christianity and in relation to communities of other faiths," she said.

Chopp inherits a school on the upswing after a rough stretch in the early 1990s. The previous dean, Richard Wood, began a $42 million renovation project to repair dilapidated facilities, moved the school toward stronger financial ground and oversaw the hiring of a new generation of scholars after a number of the school's more prominent professors retired. --RNS