Section
Pepperdine Links
Online Publications
The Religion Division has ended a search for three new professors to fill positions as New Testament professor, church historian and systematic theology professor for next fall.
Kindalee De Long, Dr. Dyron Daughrity, and Chris Doran will move to Pepperdine this fall to take on full-time teaching positions.
De Long will fill the New Testament position and teach Religion 101 and 102 courses, as well as upper division New Testament classes. According to Religion Division Chair Dr. Randall Chesnutt, she has a particular interest in narrative and literary criticism of biblical texts.
She received her bachelor’s degree in English and a Master of Divinity at Pepperdine and taught off and on at Pepperdine for close to eight years, including two years full-time. She also held an administrative position in the Corporate and Foundation Relations Office. She left to study for her doctorate but will return this year.
De Long is currently completing her Ph.D. at the University of Notre Dame, with a dissertation on Luke and Acts. She also teaches undergraduate courses at Notre Dame.
“She is one who will be very creative in class,” Chesnutt said. “She is very aware of different student learning styles. She’s a very warm, friendly person and will be an outstanding mentor to students.”
De Long will also be the only female full-time religion professor on staff and said that although she is glad to offer gender balance, she will focus on teaching.
“I love my subject,” she said. “I very much enjoy interacting with students and learning by seeing how students react to literature that we study.”
As church historian, Daughrity will teach Christianity and Culture, History of Christianity and World Religions. He specializes in Christianity in the global context, and has done extensive research in Asia, South America and Europe.
He received his bachelor’s degree in religion and communications at Lubbock Christian University and his master’s in history at Abilene Christian University. He received his Ph.D. in World Christianity at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, where he currently teaches and serves as a Minister at a Church of Christ ministry.
Daughrity said a major attraction he had to Pepperdine was the opportunity to participate in an international program. Chesnutt said it will be possible for him to take students on specific study programs in India or Asia, in addition to the regular international programs.
“Pepperdine has always been an elite school in my book,” Daughrity said. “Academic rigor, freedom of intellectual pursuit and a commitment to Christian foundations are just what I’ve always wanted.”
Doran will fill the systematic theology professor position and will teach a variety of general education courses but is specifically interested in the interaction between religion and science.
Like De Long, Doran received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Pepperdine with a bachelor’s in biology and a Master of Divinity. He is currently completing his Ph. D. at the Graduate Theological University in Berkeley, Calif.
Doran has taught summer programs at Pepperdine for the last four years and has also worked closely on various scientific studies with Dr. Donna Plank, a biology professor in the Natural Science Division.
In addition to studying and working at Pepperdine, Doran also met his wife as an undergraduate student and got married in Stauffer Chapel in 2003.
“What you envision as your dream job does not come along all the time,” he said. “I feel completely blessed to have this opportunity.”
Submitted 04-05-2007
MALIBU, CA
