Dr. Jodi Magness, the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism in the Department of Religious Studies, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The new members announcement can be found here.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is one of the oldest and most prestigious learned societies in the United States, and its members include more than 250 Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners. From the Academy’s website:

Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences honors excellence and convenes leaders from every field of human endeavor to examine new ideas, address issues of importance to the nation and the world, and work together “to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people.”

Prof. Magness came to Carolina in 2003, after having previously taught at Tufts University from 1992 to 2002. She holds a B.A. in Archaeology and History from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a Ph.D. in Classical Archaeology from the University of Pennsylvania. Her widely acclaimed publications include The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Eerdmans 2002), The Archaeology of the Early Islamic Settlement in Palestine (Eisenbrauns 2003), and The Archaeology of the Holy Land from the Destruction of Solomon’s Temple to the Muslim Conquest (Cambridge 2012). She is also the current President of the Archaeological Institute of America (2017-2019). She has participated in over 20 different archaeological excavations in Israel and Greece, and since 2011 she has directed excavations at the site of Huqoq in Galilee (www.huqoq.org).

We congratulate Jodi on this tremendous honor!