Dissertation Scholarship

National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion

Dissertation Scholarship

The NABPR is committed to supporting academically qualified scholars and teachers of religion for the Baptist academy who carry out their teaching and research with a sense of Baptist identity. The particular purpose of the NABPR dissertation scholarship is to foster conversations about what it means to be a Baptist teacher and scholar in relationship to church and academy, thus contributing to the formation of students in a Baptist tradition and the support of important research by Baptist doctoral students.

One scholarship of $3,000 will be awarded each year. Recipients will be invited to attend the National NABPR meeting in the year the award is granted where they will be recognized by the association. Recipients may also be invited to attend subsequent workshops on Baptists and higher education.

In order to be eligible the candidate must be

  • at the dissertation stage of his/her program (ABD) in an accredited doctoral program,
  • affiliated or connected in an ongoing way with some Baptist congregation,
  • a student member of NABPR (which applicants may join at the time of application with no penalty),
  • nominated by a faculty member of NABPR who agrees by virtue of the nomination to serve as the student’s mentor.

To apply the candidate must submit the following:

  • a letter of interest stating how funds will be spent, candidate’s church involvement, and long term academic goals,
  • a curriculum vitae,
  • the dissertation prospectus and/or sample chapter,
  • two letters of recommendation (one of which may be the nomination mentioned above).

All materials must be submitted electronically to Dr. Adam English, National Executive Secretary of NABPR, at [email protected].

Deadline for submitting materials is January 15 each year.

Past Dissertation Scholarship Winners

  • 2006, G. Scott Becker
  • 2006, Kristian Angelov, The Purcell School
  • 2007, Chad Eggleston, Dean of Arts, Sciences, and Business, McClennan Community College in Waco,
  • 2008, Trey Gilliam, Associate Professor of Religion at Chowan University
  • 2009, David Moffitt, Senior Lecturer in the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland
  • 2010, Derek Hatch, Endowed Chair of Baptist Studies and Associate Professor of Religion at Georgetown College
  • 2011, David King, Karen Lake Buttrey Director, Lake Institute on Faith & Giving and Assistant Professor, Philanthropic Studies at Indiana University
  • 2012, Melanie Trexler, Roanoke College
  • 2013, Courtney Pace, Assistant Professor of Church History, Memphis Theological Seminary
  • 2014, Amy Chilton, Wingate University
  • 2015, Jordan Rowan Fannin, Assistant Professor in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Berry College
  • 2016, No Award
  • 2017, João Chaves, Hispanic Theological Initiative
  • 2018, Kathryn H. House, Boston University School of Theology
  • 2018, Andrew Gardner, Hartford Institute of Religion Research
  • 2019, Kate Hanch, First St. Charles United Methodist Church
  • 2019, Elizabeth Arnold, Emory University
  • 2020, Emily Buck-Mendenhall, Fuller Theological Seminary
  • 2021, Matthew Beal, Boston University School of Theology
  • 2022, Indea Adesanya, Graduate Theological Union
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