Dr. David Leonhardt, December 2024 Graduate

Dr. David Leonhardt graduated with the doctorate in Religious Studies this past December and will have the opportunity to celebrate commencement in May. His dissertation committee for “Knowing Nicodemus: Understanding the Role of Nicodemus in the Gospel of John” was chaired by Prof. Mark Goodacre, and his additional committee members were Professors Amy-Jill Levine, Laura Lieber, Joel Marcus, and J. Ross Wagner. Prior to coming to Duke, Leonhardt earned the Bachelor of Arts from Western Kentucky University and the Master of Theological Studies from Vanderbilt Divinity School.

Leonhardt’s teaching experience at Duke included courses involving both New Testament and Old Testament. He served as preceptor for many master’s level Divinity School courses, teaching assistant for two undergraduate courses as well as instructor for one course with Arts & Sciences.

He has presented papers twice at Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), a professional guild of which he is a member. He was a guest speaker at both Duke Divinity School and Villanova University.  Besides SBL, he is also a member of National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS). His honors include the Perilman Summer Research Stipend from Duke Center for Jewish Studies, Teaching on Purpose Fellowship with Kenan Institute, and Life Worth Living Teaching Fellowship with Yale University. His research languages are Koine Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Theological German and Theological French.

A fun fact is that while Dr. Leonhardt was working on the doctoral degree, his wife Ameliah was enrolled in our Master of Arts program. They had also attended high school and Western Kentucky University together, though they weren’t married at the time. We wish Dr. Leonhardt well in his academic pursuits.