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St. Olaf names new Martin E. Marty professor

By Kari VanDerVeen
June 4, 2012

Darrell Jodock '62, a professor of Lutheran studies at Gustavus Adolphus College, has been named the Martin E. Marty Professor of Religion and the Academy at St. Olaf College.

Jodock, author of The Church's Bible: Its Contemporary Authority and founder of the Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding at Muhlenberg College, will take up his new role at St. Olaf on January 1, 2013. The Martin E. Marty chair provides opportunities to address significant religious issues and to respond in a thoughtful and faithful way to wider cultural issues.

A native of North Dakota, Jodock graduated summa cum laude from St. Olaf. In 1962 he was one of 97 students across the nation selected to receive a Danforth Graduate Fellowship designed to prepare college teachers. He graduated from Luther Seminary in 1966 and three years later earned a Ph.D. in religious studies (historical theology) from Yale University.

Jodock served a parish in Washington, D.C., for two years and taught at Luther Seminary for seven years before joining the faculty at Muhlenberg College. He taught there for 21 years, 13 of which he also served as chair of the Religion Department. In 1999 he was appointed the Drell and Adeline Bernhardson Distinguished Professor of Lutheran Studies at Gustavus — the first person to hold this endowed chair. He taught in the college's Religion Department until last year, and continues to hold the chair.

In addition to founding the Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding at Muhlenberg College, Jodock helped start and served as the first chair of the ELCA Association of Teaching Theologians. He chairs the ELCA Consultative Panel on Lutheran-Jewish Relations, serves as vice chair of the Board of the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research, and is active in the American Academy of Religion. He has received awards for teaching and interfaith understanding, as well as for his efforts to foster closer church-college relations.

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.