Duke Divinity School Emeritus Professor Grant Wacker has received a first-place writing award from the Evangelical Press Association for an essay in Christianity Today reviewing a new book on Kathryn Kuhlman, a mid-twentieth century charismatic healing evangelist.

The Evangelical Press Association recently selected the recipients for its 2020 Higher Goals Awards honoring the best work done in specific categories for the previous year after evaluating articles in all evangelical magazines.

Wacker, the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Christian History, received the first place award in the Personality (or Biography) Category for the lengthy essay, “Female Evangelical Leaders Have a Hidden Predecessor to Thank,” published on September 20, 2019.

The essay expanded on a new biography on Kuhlman, a preacher who emerged in the post-World War II era alongside Oral Roberts, written by Amy Collier Artman titled The Miracle Lady: Kathryn Kuhlman and the Transformation of Charismatic Christianity (Eerdmans). Kuhlman’s story offers a case study of the achievements of strong evangelical women and the roadblocks they often face, the essay stated.

A faculty member since 1992, Wacker is the author or co-editor of nine books, including Heaven Below: Early Pentecostals and American Culture and America’s Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation.