David N. Hempton Explained

David N. Hempton
Birth Name:	David Neil Hempton
Birth Date:	19 February 1952
Birth Place:	Northern Ireland
Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor and Alonzo L. McDonald Family Professor of Evangelical Theological Studies, Harvard Divinity School
Discipline:	History
Sub Discipline:	History of Christianity
Main Interests:	Evangelicalism

David Neil Hempton (born 1952) is a Northern Irish historian of evangelicalism, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor and Alonzo L. McDonald Family Professor of Evangelical Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School, and fellow of the Royal Historical Society.^[1]

Biography

Hempton was born on 19 February 1952,^[2] in Northern Ireland.^[3] He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree (1974) from the Queen's University Belfast and his Doctor of Philosophy degree (1977) from the University of St Andrews.^[4] Hempton began teaching at Queen's University in 1979, where he was professor of modern history and director of the school of history.^[4] He joined the faculty of Boston University in 1998, where he was professor of the history of Christianity, and in 2008 named "Outstanding Teacher of the Year" at the divinity school.^[3] In 2007, he was appointed as the first Alonzo L. McDonald Family Professor of Evangelical Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School,^[4] and in 2012 it was announced he would succeed William A. Graham as dean of the school.^[3] In 2020 he was admitted as a member of the Royal Irish Academy.^[5] He retired as HDS dean at the end of the 2022-23 academic year, but remains on the faculty.^[6]

Selected publications

• Methodism and Politics in British Society, 1750–1850, winner of The Whitfield Prize^[7] (1984)
• The Religion of the People: Methodism and Popular Religion C. 1750–1900 (1996)
• Religion and Political Culture in Britain and Ireland: From the Glorious Revolution to the Decline of Empire (1996)
• Methodism: Empire of the Spirit, winner of the Jesse Lee Prize^[8] (2005)
• Evangelical Disenchantment: Nine Portraits of Faith and Doubt (2008)
• The Church in the Long Eighteenth Century, winner of the Albert C. Outler Prize^[9] (2011)

External links

• Hempton's faculty page at Harvard Divinity School

Notes and References

1. Web site: Fellows of the Royal Historical Society . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130614101814/http://www.royalhistoricalsociety.org/rhsfellows-h.pdf . 2013-06-14 .
2. Web site: Hempton, David. from Library of Congress Name Authority File.
3. News: Hempton named Divinity School dean. March 30, 2012. Harvard Gazette.
4. News: Hempton named first McDonald Family Professor. August 24, 2006. Harvard Gazette.
5. Web site: 29 New Members Admitted . Royal Irish Academy . 22 May 2020 . 27 Nov 2021.
6. News: Hempton to Step Down as HDS Dean . 13 November 2023 . Harvard Divinity School . October 27, 2022.
7. Web site: Previous Winners of the Whitfield Prize . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130108151615/http://www.royalhistoricalsociety.org/whitfieldpastwinners.pdf . 2013-01-08 .
8. Web site: The Jesse Lee Prize . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121010042017/http://www.gcah.org/site/c.ghKJI0PHIoE/b.3526375/k.8CBE/Jesse_Lee_Prize.htm . 2012-10-10 .
9. Web site: David Hempton Awarded Outler Prize. December 7, 2012. Harvard Divinity School.