Richard Hays, left, is inducted as dean of the Divinity School by President Richard H. Brodhead during a school ceremony Tuesday in Duke Chapel.
Hays, who will serve a two-year term while the university conducts a national search for a new dean, succeeds Gregory Jones, who after 13 years as dean stepped down to become vice president and vice provost of global strategy and programs.
In introducing Hays, Brodhead reminded the audience of the university motto Eruditio et Religio, which establishes a close connection between education and religion.
In his homily, Hays spoke to students, faculty and staff alike, joking about the Methodist Church's discomfort with ritual. Hays said he was concerned that church and university both took an easy path toward reassuring individuals. He added that a Christian life wasn't meant to be entirely comfortable and that Jesus expected his followers to be prepared to make sacrifices.
Hays is internationally recognized for his work on the letters of Paul and on New Testament ethics. He book The Moral Vision of the New Testament was selected by Christianity Today as one of the 100 most important religious books of the 20th century. His other influential books include "Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul" and "The Conversion of the Imagination." He has lectured widely in North America, Europe, Israel, Australia and New Zealand.
Hays came to Duke in 1991 from the faculty of the Yale Divinity School, where he earlier received the M.Div. degree. He earned a Ph.D. at Emory University.
Video of the induction ceremony is available here (Real Player) and here (Quicktime)
Photo by Les Todd