The Rev. Dr. Lisa Davison Named Interim Dean

Phillips Theological Seminary announces the appointment of the Rev. Dr. Lisa W. Davison as interim dean, effective July 1.

Davison, Johnnie Eargle Cadieux Professor of Hebrew Bible at Phillips for nearly 13 years, will oversee the Office of Academic Affairs until the naming of a permanent dean following a national search.

The Rev. Dr. Lisa W. Davison

“Besides being an outstanding scholar of the Hebrew Bible, Dr. Davison is also known for her commitment to preaching, teaching and leading in the church and the academy,” said Phillips President Nancy Claire Pittman. “She brings a breadth of institutional and ecclesial experience to this new role.”

Davison is a native of Radford, Va. with a BA (Religion and Spanish) from Lynchburg College; an MDiv from Brite Divinity School (TCU), and an MA from Vanderbilt University. She received her PhD in Hebrew Bible from Vanderbilt. She is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and has served congregations in Texas and Kentucky.

Davison has led several academic committees as chair at Phillips while also participating as an active member of many other committees, task forces and groups.

Her newest book is More Than a Womb: Childfree Women in the Hebrew Bible as Agents of the Holy. Davison is also the author of Preaching the Women of the Bible (2006) and has contributed to the following books: The Preacher’s Bible Handbook (2019), Living Pulpit 2018: Sermons in the Stone-Campbell Movement 1968-2018 (2018), and Those Preaching Women: A Multicultural Collection (2008).