An American Jewish woman has been elected as president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America for the first time.
Professor Amy-Jill Levine was elected at the 88th annual meeting and will serve as CBA president for the 2026–2027 year.
Levine is a New Testament scholar. She is currently University Professor Emerita of Vanderbilt Divinity School and also the Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at the Hartford International University for Religion and Peace.
She has authored or co-authored over twenty books, including The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus (2006), The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently (2020), and The Jewish Annotated New Testament (2011 and 2017). She had three audiences with Pope Francis.
She is also the first Jewish scholar to teach the New Testament at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome in 2019.
Deep appreciation for role in Jewish-Christian relations
"Within the Catholic Biblical Association, she is recognized and deeply appreciated for her work in Jewish-Christian relations," said Gregory E. Sterling, Chair of the Executive Board of CBA.
Sterling said Levine is "known for her keen intellect, sharp wit, and ability to speak candidly about controversial issues with grace."
In a 2013 interview, Levine dismissed rumors that she is a Messianic Jew, saying she is a member of Congregation Sherith Israel in Nashville, an Orthodox synagogue.
She is married to Jay Geller, Professor of Modern Jewish Culture at Vanderbilt Divinity School and the Vanderbilt University Jewish Studies Program. They have two children.