Mark U. Edwards, Jr., a former professor of the History of Christianity at HDS from 1987 to 1994, and acting dean of the School for eight months in 1990-91, has been appointed associate dean for academic affairs and special programs. He took over from Professor David Lamberth on July 1, and will serve on a part-time basis.
"I am delighted to have someone of Mark's administrative and academic caliber, especially someone with a strong background in theological studies for the work ahead," Dean William A. Graham said of Edwards in announcing the appointment.
Edwards left HDS in 1994 to become president of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he was also professor of history and religion until 2000.
"As a former college president whose school regularly sent outstanding graduates on to Chicago, Yale, Duke, Vanderbilt, Emory, and Harvard, I now see HDS's distinctive strengths more clearly than when I was a professor here," said Edwards. "No other divinity school is so well positioned to prepare leaders both for ministry in a religiously diverse world and in the academic study of religion. No other divinity school offers such rich opportunities for sophisticated theological reflection combined with in-depth study of the world's major religious traditions."
Edwards holds BA, MA, and PhD degrees from Stanford University and taught earlier in his career at Wellesley College and Purdue University. He is the author of many articles and several books, including most recently Printing, Propaganda, and Martin Luther (California).
In conjunction with Edwards's appointment, Graham also announced that Stephanie Kenen would assume the new full-time post of assistant dean for academic affairs as of July 1. Kenen previously taught in Harvard's Department of the History of Science and served as assistant director of the department's office of undergraduate studies. She received master's and doctoral degrees from the University of California-Berkeley.
"Stephanie is a much-needed addition to the Office of Academic Affairs, and we will all benefit from her demonstrated dedication to students, faculty, and the wider academic community," Graham said.
—by Wendy McDowell