Duke University has announced the most recent class of full professors, which includes four faculty at Duke Divinity School. Promotion or appointment to full professor requires an extensive review and recommendation from faculty peers both inside and outside Duke and approval from academic leadership from the department or division, the school, and Duke University.
“Warm congratulations to our Duke faculty who have been promoted or appointed to the rank of full professor,” said Abbas Benmamoun, vice provost for faculty advancement at Duke University. “The review process looks for distinction, leadership and impact in research, teaching, and engagement and for prominence in the relevant area of expertise nationally and internationally. These faculty colleagues represent all the facets of academic excellence that are essential to fulfilling Duke’s core mission of discovery, education, and engagement.”
Edgardo Colón-Emeric, dean of Duke Divinity School, has been named the Irene and William McCutchen Professor of Reconciliation and Theology (appointment date 10/1/2022). His scholarship explores the intersection of Methodist and Catholic theologies, and Wesleyan and Latin American experiences. His teaching has covered a broad range of theological areas: systematics, Wesleyan theology, ecumenism, and Latin American theology. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Colón-Emeric was the first Latino to be ordained as an elder in the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church and was founding pastor of Cristo Vive UMC in Durham, N.C. He serves on the United Methodist Committee on Faith and Order and on both national and international Methodist-Catholic dialogues. His book Óscar Romero’s Theological Vision: Liberation and the Transfiguration of the Poor (Notre Dame University Press, 2018), received first place in the 2019 Catholic Press Association award for books about newly canonized saints.
Timothy Kimbrough, the director of the Anglican Episcopal House of Studies, has been named the Jack and Barbara Bovender Professor of the Practice of Anglican Studies. He was previously dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Nashville, Tenn., in the Diocese of Tennessee (The Episcopal Church) and holds B.A. and M.Div. degrees from Duke University. He is an ordained priest in The Episcopal Church and has served congregations in South Africa and the Philippines, in addition to several U.S. states. Kimbrough’s musical compositions are included in The United Methodist Hymnal, GBGMusik’s Global Praise series, Psalms for Praise and Worship: A Complete Psalter (Abingdon Press), Sweet Singer: The Hymns of Charles Wesley (Hinshaw), and most recently in a volume entitled A Theology of the Sacraments Interpreted by John and Charles Wesley.
Luke A. Powery, dean of Duke University Chapel, has been named Professor of Homiletics. A national leader in the theological study of the art of preaching (homiletics), Powery regularly delivers sermons at Duke Chapel as well as churches throughout the U.S. and abroad. His teaching and research interests are at the intersection of preaching, pneumatology, music, and culture, particularly expressions of the African diaspora. His book, Becoming Human: The Holy Spirit and the Rhetoric of Race, received the 2023 Book of the Year from the Academy of Parish Clergy. In addition to his many published books, he is a general editor of the nine-volume lectionary commentary series for preaching and worship Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship. Powery was ordained by the Progressive National Baptist Convention and has served in an ecumenical capacity in churches throughout Switzerland, Canada, and the U.S. He is a member of the Academy of Homiletics, the American Academy of Religion, the Society for the Study of Black Religion, the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality, and the Association for Chaplaincy and Spiritual Life in Higher Education. His scholastic fellowships and awards include induction into the Martin Luther King Jr. Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College and the Speakman Chair of Preaching Award at the Massanetta Springs Camp and Conference Center.
Laceye Warner, associate dean for Wesleyan engagement, has been named the Royce and Jane Reynolds Professor of the Practice of Evangelism and Methodist Studies. Her research interests explore contemporary church practices within the larger Christian narrative to inform creative and faithful ministry practices. She teaches courses in United Methodist studies, mission, evangelism, and women’s leadership in ministry from the 18th century to the present. An ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, Warner serves the denomination in a number of capacities including an elected delegate from the Texas Conference to General and Jurisdictional Conferences, member of the Council of Bishops’ Ministry Study and Task Force on Leadership Formation and Theological Education, and the Board of Ordained Ministry in the Texas Conference. Her book Saving Women: Retrieving Evangelistic Theology and Practice was named an "Outstanding Book" by the University Press Books Committee, and she has published widely used denominational resources on church polity and leadership.
"These promotions and appointments continue the Divinity School's long history of faculty excellence,” said C. Kavin Rowe, vice dean for faculty and George Washington Ivey Distinguished Professor of New Testament. “We are delighted that our colleagues' achievements and significance have been publicly recognized by the university as worthy of the rank of full professor."