Faculty
James Hudnut-Beumler 
Dean of the Divinity School, Anne Potter Wilson Distinguished Professor of American Religious History
B.A., Wooster (1980)
M.Div., Union Theological Seminary (1983)
M.A., Ph.D., Princeton (1989)
Email: james.hudnut-beumler@vanderbilt.edu
Ordained a minister of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in March 1987, Hudnut-Beumler was program associate of the Religion Division of the Lilly Endowment, Inc., from 1991 to 1993.
He studied at Princeton University from 1984 to 1989, receiving both his master of arts and Ph.D. from the institution. From 1988 to 1991, he served as administrative director of the undergraduate program and lecturer in Public and International Affairs at The Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton. Earlier he spent a year as a lecturer in Princeton's Department of Religion. From 1983 to 1985 he was a consultant on church history and social ethics policy for the Advisory Council on Church and Society of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Hudnut-Beumler has published and presented widely in the areas of church history, ethics, and philanthropy. Among his publications are the 1994 book Looking for God in the Suburbs: The Religion of the American Dream and its Critics, published by Rutgers University Press and the 1999 book Generous Saints, published by the Alban Institute. In 1991 the Associated Church Press presented him with its award for the best professional article. Currently, Hudnut-Beumler directs the Material History of American Religion Project.
He graduated cum laude with a bachelor of arts in history from The College of Wooster and received a master of divinity in church history from Union Theological Seminary before enrolling at Princeton.
He is a member of the American Academy of Religion, American Society of Church History, Association for Religion and Intellectual Life and Society for the Scientific Study of Religion.
