Dr. Alice Hunt serves as the executive director of the American Academy of Religion. Her work includes helping the A.A.R. meet its mission to foster excellence in the academic study of religion and enhance public understanding.
Prior to joining the A.A.R., she served as president of Chicago Theological Seminary (2008–2018) and associate dean for Academic Affairs at Vanderbilt Divinity School of Vanderbilt University (2001–2008). Before her work in higher education, she was a systems analyst building software for Hubble Space Telescope and a high school math teacher. She attended the University of Montevallo (B.S.) and Vanderbilt University (M.T.S., M.A., Ph.D.) Her published work includes Missing Priests: The Zadokites in Tradition and History (2006) and two edited volumes, Second Temple Studies IV: Historiography and History (2012) and Focusing Biblical Studies: The Crucial Nature of the Persian and Hellenistic Periods: Essays in Honor of Douglas A. Knight (2012) as well as essays. Her current research is around guided leadership development. She leads workshops on privilege (particularly white privilege and male privilege.)
Dr. Hunt became ordained at the historic Fifteenth Avenue Baptist Church, National Baptist Convention, in Nashville, Tenn. She holds dual standing with the United Church of Christ in the Chicago Metropolitan Association. She holds degrees from the University of Montevallo (B.S.) and Vanderbilt University (M.T.S., M.A., Ph.D.)