Susan Gillingham

{{Short description|British academic, theologian, and Anglican deacon (born 1951)}} {{EngvarB|date=October 2017}}{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix = The Reverend Canon | name = Susan Gillingham | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1951}}  | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = | death_cause = | region = | citizenship = United Kingdom | residence = | other_names = {{unbulleted list|Susan E. Gillingham|S. E. Gillingham}} | occupation = | period = | known_for = | title = | boards =  | spouse = | children = | awards = Oxford DD (2015) | website = | education = | alma_mater = {{plain list| * St John's College, Nottingham * University of Nottingham * University of Exeter * Keble College, Oxford }} | thesis_title = Personal piety in the study of the psalms: A reassessment | thesis_url = http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:0267b635-59d5-4bf4-a453-6c9e054648e5 | thesis_year = 1987 | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | influences =  | era = | discipline = Theology | sub_discipline = {{hlist|Hebrew Bible|Psalms|Jewish history}} | workplaces = {{plain list| * Worcester College, Oxford * Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford }} | doctoral_students =  | notable_students =  | main_interests = | notable_works = | notable_ideas = | influenced =  | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | footnotes = }} '''Susan E. Gillingham''' (born 1951) is a British theologian, academic, and Anglican deacon. She specialises in the Hebrew Bible, the Psalms, and Jewish history from the Israelites to the Second Temple. She has been Fellow and Tutor in theology at Worcester College, Oxford since 1995, and was Professor of the Hebrew Bible at the University of Oxford from 2014 to 2019. She is the first British woman to have been awarded a Doctor of Divinity (DD) degree by the University of Oxford.

==Early life and education== Gillingham was born in 1951.<ref name="Crockford 22">{{Crockford| surname = Gillingham | forenames = Susan | id = 50130 | accessed = 5 July 2022}}</ref> She studied theology at St John's College, Nottingham, an Anglican theological college, where she was its first female student.<ref name="C of E - Oxford DD" /> The college's degree are validated by the University of Nottingham, and so she graduated with a Bachelor of Theology (BTh) degree from Nottingham in 1973.<ref name="bio - Verbum et Ecclesia" /> She undertook postgraduate study at the University of Exeter and graduated with a Master of Arts (MA) degree in 1980.<ref name="bio - Verbum et Ecclesia" /> She then undertook postgraduate research at Keble College, Oxford, and graduated from the University of Oxford with a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree in 1987.<ref name="bio - Verbum et Ecclesia" /> Her doctoral thesis was titled "Personal piety in the study of the psalms: A reassessment".<ref name="Doctoral thesis">{{cite thesis|last1=Gillingham|first1=S. E.|title=Personal piety in the study of the psalms (DPhil)|url=http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:0267b635-59d5-4bf4-a453-6c9e054648e5|website=Oxford University Research Archive|year=1987 |publisher=University of Oxford|access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref>

==Academic career== Gillingham specialises in the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Psalms, and Jewish history from the Israelites to the Second Temple. She has written a number of books about the Psalms and also two books about biblical studies.

In 1995, Gillingham was elected a Fellow and Tutor in theology at Worcester College, Oxford.<ref name="bio - Verbum et Ecclesia">{{cite web|title=Professot Susan E Gillingham|url=http://www.ve.org.za/index.php/VE/about/editorialTeamBio/41'%29|website=Verbum et Ecclesia|access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref><ref name="bio - Worcester College">{{cite web|title=Professor Susan Gillingham BTh, MA, DPhil, DD|url=http://www.worc.ox.ac.uk/about/fellows/susan-gillingham|website=Worcester College, Oxford|publisher=University of Oxford|access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref> On 1 October 1999, she was appointed a lecturer in theology at the University of Oxford.<ref>{{cite news|title=GENERAL BOARD OF THE FACULTIES|url=http://www.ox.ac.uk/gazette/1998-9/weekly/200599/exam.htm|access-date=20 October 2015|work=Oxford University Gazette|date=20 May 1999}}</ref> She was later promoted to Reader in Old Testament.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Day|editor1-first=John|title=Prophecy and the Prophets in Ancient Israel|date=2010|publisher=T & T Clark|location=London|page=xi}}</ref> In November 2014, she was awarded a Title of Distinction as Professor of the Hebrew Bible in the Faculty of Theology and Religion.<ref name="bio - Verbum et Ecclesia" /><ref name="bio - Faculty of Theology, Oxford">{{cite web|title=Revd Canon Professor Susan Gillingham|url=https://www.theology.ox.ac.uk/people/susan-gillingham|website=Faculty of Theology and Religion|publisher=University of Oxford|access-date=31 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Recognition of Distinction|journal=Oxford University Gazette|date=6 November 2014|volume=145|issue=5076|url=https://www.ox.ac.uk/gazette/2014-2015/6november2014-no5076/notices/#173966|access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref> She retired in 2019 and was granted the title of professor emeritus in the Faculty of Theology and Religion and became a senior research fellow at Worcester College.<ref>{{cite web |title=Revd Canon Professor Susan Gillingham |url=https://www.theology.ox.ac.uk/people/susan-gillingham? |website=Faculty of Theology and Religion |publisher=University of Oxford |access-date=11 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

==Christian ministry== Gillingham is an active member of the Church of England.<ref name="C of E - Oxford DD">{{cite web|title=Shipley parishioner becomes first British women to achieve highest Oxford Honour|url=http://www.leeds.anglican.org/content/shipley-parishioner-becomes-first-british-women-achieve-highest-oxford-honour|website=Diocese of Leeds|access-date=13 July 2016}}</ref> She began her ministry as a Licensed Lay Minister (also known as a reader).<ref name="deacon">{{cite web |title=New clergy for Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire |url=https://www.oxford.anglican.org/new-clergy-for-oxfordshire-berkshire-and-buckinghamshire-2/ |website=Diocese of Oxford |access-date=11 November 2018 |date=6 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111093254/https://www.oxford.anglican.org/new-clergy-for-oxfordshire-berkshire-and-buckinghamshire-2/ |archive-date=11 November 2018}}</ref> She was ordained to the permanent diaconate on 30 June 2018.<ref name="deacon" /><ref name="Crockford">{{Crockford| surname = Gillingham | forenames = Susan | id = 50130 | accessed = 11 November 2018}}</ref> She is attached to St Barnabas Church, Oxford, and Worcester College Chapel.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pastoral Contacts|url=http://sbarnabas.org.uk/more/|website=St Barnabas Church, Jericho|access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Things Temporal and Things Eternal – Dr Susan Gillingham|url=http://www.worcesterchapel.co.uk/2011/06/05/things-temporal-and-things-eternal-dr-susan-gillingham/|website=Worcester College Chapel|date=5 June 2011 |publisher=University of Oxford|access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref> Since October 2018, she has also served as canon theologian of Exeter Cathedral.<ref name="Crockford" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Appointments |url=https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2018/26-october/gazette/appointments/appointments |access-date=11 November 2018 |work=Church Times |date=26 October 2018}}</ref>

==Honours== On 1 August 2015, Gillingham was awarded a Doctor of Divinity (DD) degree by the University of Oxford. The DD is Oxford's highest degree and she is the first British woman to have been awarded it. The work submitted for the degree has to "constitute an original contribution to the advancement of theological knowledge of such substance and distinction as to give the candidate an authoritative status in this branch of learning".<ref name="Worcester College - DD">{{cite web|title=Professor Susan Gillingham awarded Doctor of Divinity|url=http://www.worc.ox.ac.uk/about/news/professor-susan-gillingham-awarded-doctor-divinity|website=Worcester College, Oxford|publisher=University of Oxford|access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Doctor of Divinity|url=http://theology.nsms.ox.ac.uk/news/doctor-of-divinity.html|website=Faculty of Theology and Religion|publisher=University of Oxford|access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref>

==Private life== Sue Gillingham is married to Dick Smethurst, a retired Oxford economist, and former provost of Worcester College, Oxford.

==Selected works== * {{cite book|last1=Gillingham|first1=Susan|title=The poems and psalms of the Hebrew Bible|date=1994|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0192132420}} * {{cite book|last1=Gillingham|first1=Susan|title=One Bible, many voices: different approaches to biblical studies|date=1998|publisher=SPCK|location=London|isbn=978-0281048861}} * {{cite book|last1=Gillingham|first1=Susan|title=The image, the depths and the surface: multivalent approaches to biblical study|date=2002|publisher=Sheffield Academic Press|location=London|isbn=978-1841272979}} * {{cite book|last1=Gillingham|first1=Susan|title=Psalms through the centuries: Volume One|date=2008|publisher=Blackwell Publisher|location=Malden, MA|isbn=978-0631218555}} * {{cite book|editor1-last=Gillingham|editor1-first=Susan|title=Jewish and Christian approaches to the Psalms: conflict and convergence|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0199699544}} * {{cite book|last1=Gillingham|first1=Susan|title=A journey of two psalms: the reception of Psalms 1 and 2 in Jewish and Christian tradition|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0199652419}}

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillingham, Susan}} Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century British biblical scholars Category:English Anglican theologians Category:20th-century British biblical scholars Category:Old Testament scholars Category:Fellows of Worcester College, Oxford Category:Academics of the University of Oxford Category:Alumni of the University of Nottingham Category:Alumni of the University of Exeter Category:Alumni of St John's College, Nottingham Category:Doctors of Divinity Category:Lay theologians Category:Anglican biblical scholars Category:Anglican lay readers Category:British women biblical scholars Category:Presidents of the Society for Old Testament Study Category:Women Christian theologians