Biography
Dr. Catherine McDowell comes to Palm Beach Atlantic University from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Charlotte, N.C.) where she was an Associate Professor of Old Testament. Before teaching at GCTS-Charlotte, Dr. McDowell was an assistant professor of Old Testament at GCTS-Boston (2002-2004) and Wheaton College (2010-2011) and served as a graduate teaching fellow at Harvard University (1999-2001). She regularly teaches courses in Biblical Hebrew, Hebrew exegesis, and the ancient Near East and has spent many summers in Israel working at archaeological excavations. She also serves part-time as a Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at Séminaire Théologique Mondelus in Milot, Haiti.
Dr. McDowell is the author of The Image of God in the Garden of Eden: The Creation of Humankind in Gen 2:5-3:24 in Light of the mis pi/pit pi and wpt-r Rituals of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt (Eisenbrauns), the study notes for 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, and 1-2 Chronicles in the ESV Archaeological Study Bible (Crossway, winner of the ECPA Book of the Year Award for Bibles in 2019), as well as several articles in publications such as the Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar textbook, the N.I.V. Archaeological Study Bible, the Baker Illustrated Bible Background Commentary, and the Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research. Her latest book, co-authored with Philip Towner, The Rewards of Learning Greek and Hebrew: Discovering the Richness of the Bible in Its Original Languages (Hendrickson), was published in 2021. She is currently writing a book on idolatry for the Essential Studies in Biblical Theology series (IVP) and has additional writing projects underway.
Dr. McDowell has earned several honors and awards for her work, including a full tuition scholarship at Harvard University, a sizeable grant from the Pew Charitable Trust for her Ph.D. studies, a Certificate of Distinction in Teaching undergraduates at Harvard College from the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, and has secured several grants for faculty development, research and writing, website development, conference participation, and study abroad.
Teaching in the local church and mentoring students have been important parts of Dr. McDowell’s ministry as well. Over the years, she has taught lay-level classes on various Old Testament books, interpreting the Bible, and on her specialty, the image of God. She has shared many meals with students, hosted writing retreats in her home and on campus, developed tutoring programs, mentored teaching assistants, and started a professional group for women in Biblical Studies.
Degrees
PhD in Near Eastern Lang. & Civilizations, Harvard University |
MA in Old Testament, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary | M.A., Religion (with a concentration in Biblical Languages), summa cum laude, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary |M.A., Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University
B.A., History, University of North Carolina