After serving as dean for five years, Dean of the Divinity School Richard Hays will step down at the end of the 2015-16 academic year.
In his announcement last week, Hays said that he has decided to take a research leave during the 2016-17 year to pursue long-deferred writing projects, and plans to return as a professor the following year.
“I get the sense that the time is right for me to pursue my scholarship,” Hays said.
Before becoming the 12th dean of the Divinity School, Hays served Duke as a professor and scholar on the New Testament since 1991—specifically engaging with the literary and theological study of how the writers of the New Testament gospels used citations of Israel’s scriptures in their writings. He will continue this work during his research leave.
He noted that he believes the Divinity School is at a good moment for a transition in leadership.
“It seems like we’ve reached a point where a lot has been accomplished, and it’s appropriate to hand it over to someone else to lead us into the next phase,” Hays said.
The Divinity School has reached a milestone in the Duke Forward campaign, a university-wide capital fundraising effort, Hays said. Three years into the five-year campaign, the Divinity School has already raised $86 million, surpassing their goal of $80 million.
Among his biggest accomplishments as dean, Hays cites his appointment of a strong group of younger faculty. He noted that he has chosen 20 new faculty members in the last five years—almost 40 percent of the total faculty in the Divinity School.
During his time as dean, the Divinity School also launched three new degree programs—doctor of ministry, master of arts in Christian practice and master of arts in Christian studies— and firmly established its doctor of theology program.
Hays has strengthened the Divinity School through fundraising, organizational change and recruitment of faculty and staff, said Ellen Davis, Amos Ragan Kearns distinguished professor of Bible and practical theology.
Rachel Thompson, a senior Master of Divinity student, said that Hays’ most meaningful contribution to the school is his emphasis on forming students with scriptural imagination— his term for the process of thinking about one’s life and ministry through the lens of scripture.
“It’s helped to shape the identity of the school,” she said.
Throughout the last five years, Hays said that his biggest challenge has been to raise adequate endowed funds for student scholarships. He explained that many graduates of the Divinity School are not highly paid, which results in reduced donations to the school. He has been working with donors to provide resources for financial aid so that Divinity students will not have to go into debt, he said.
Although Duke is regarded as research university, Hays said that the Divinity School plays an important role in helping the University remember its historical roots and in thinking clearly about what makes life worth living.
“I don’t just mean this in issues about ethics but in asking, ‘who are we as human beings and what enables us to live lives that are whole and significant?’” he said. “The Divinity School plays a role in keeping these questions live in public discourse.”
The 13th dean of the Divinity School will be selected by a search committee appointed by Provost Sally Kornbluth and President Richard Brodhead. Randy Maddox, William Kellon Quick Professor of Wesleyan and Methodist Studies, will chair the committee.
Hays said that he hopes that his successor will continue the Divinity School’s interdisciplinary engagement with the University and will carry forward the school's combination of academic excellence with a commitment to training people for ministry in the church.
Hays added that he has enjoyed interacting with faculty and students in the Divinity School during his time at Duke, both as a professor and as dean. He has been involved in the planning of several musical events and has even participated in a band of other faculty members. For a convocation with area pastors a few years ago, he rewrote the words of the Rolling Stones’s “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” to instead say “I can’t get no inspiration” in reference to sermon writing.
“People are always surprised to see the dean stand up with an electric guitar,” he said. “It’s a way to inject fun into the serious business of running a school.”
Hays said he also enjoys cheering on the Duke basketball teamand has been a season ticket holder since he began working at Duke.
Thompson noted that her best memory of Hays was when he came to class the day after the National Championship this year, wearing a National Championship hat and t-shirt.
Although being the dean was not something he sought or expected, Hays said that his time in the role has been a joyful challenge.
“It’s been an adventure, but it’s time for me to move on to the next adventure,” he said.
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