Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Spring 2013 | Page 11

This papyrus, titled “P39,” is similar to that
being translated by Dr. Karen Jobes and her
students majoring in ancient languages. (Used
with permission of the Green Scholars Initiative.)

Jobes’ Class Translates Papyrus from
the Green Collection
A team of ancient languages majors, guided by Gerald
F. Hawthorne Professor of New Testament Greek and
Exegesis Dr. Karen Jobes, participated in a rare research
opportunity this spring, translating a papyrus owned by
the Green Collection, the world’s largest private collection
of rare biblical texts and artifacts. Dr. Jobes’ students helped
transcribe, translate, and identify the three- by six-inch
document, then compare it to previous editions. Their
findings will be submitted for publication in a volume
published by Brill.
Meghan Gegner ’14, a double m ajor in archaeology and
ancient languages, says that working on the papyrus united
her two areas of interest. “Texts are archaeological artifacts
and not just words, which is something that we don’t tend to
think much about in other language classes,” she says. “I am
considering pursuing epigraphy (translation of inscriptions)
in the future, and this is the closest I have been to actually
trying out something similar.”
For Jeremiah Coogan ’13, whose triple-major is German,
biblical studies, and ancient languages, the hands-on
experience adds another dimension to his undergraduate
preparation as he applies to graduate school. “The papyrus
project with Dr. Jobes is an unbelievable opportunity
for a young scholar, primarily in the way it is expanding
my knowledge and understanding of how manuscript
transmission works, which is so critical for textual criticism
and also for our understanding of how the church received
and interpreted Scripture,” he says. “Working with original
papyri also makes me aware of how painstaking the work
of the copyist was and of the ways in which errors might
arise. Beyond that, I just love working with Greek, and this
project is a really incredible way to do that.”
The papyrus came to Wheaton as part of the Green
Scholars Initiative, which brings together young
and established scholars to pioneer research on the Green
Collection’s more than 40,000 rare biblical texts
and artifacts.
“Few people have a career path with as much in-line and
in-depth Septuagint and Greek study as Dr. Jobes,” says
Dr. Jerry Pattengale ’81, executive director of the Green
Scholars Initiative. “Dr. Jobes is very highly regarded by her
peers in the academic community; in fact, she was among
the first scholars I contacted when we began this program.

Faculty Receive Promotions
and/or Tenure
The following faculty promotion, tenure,
and emeritus status actions were
approved by the Board of Trustees on
Februar y 15, 2013. All are ef fective
July 1, 2013.

Emeritus
Dr. Pattle P. T. Pun, M.A. ’85 Biology
Dr. Paul W. Robinson HNGR
Dr. Terry R. Schwartz Conser vator y
of Music
Dr. Charles W. Weber ’67 Histor y

Tenure
Dr. Richard C. Baybutt Applied Health
Science
Dr. Robert C. Bishop Physics
Dr. Tiffany Eberle Kriner English
Ms. Nicole Mazzarella English
Dr. Read Mercer Schuchardt
Communication
Dr. Tom Schwanda Christian
Formation & Ministr y

Promotion from Assistant Professor
to Associate Professor and Tenure
Dr. Bryan T. McGraw Politics &
International Relations

Promotion from Assistant Professor
to Associate Professor
Dr. Jonathan M. Eckert ’96 Education
Dr. Keith L. Johnson Biblical &
Theological Studies
Dr. Henry H. Kim Sociology &
Dr. Karen Jobes was selected to join
the Green Initiative because of her
academic background, plus her desire
to mentor Wheaton College students.
Those involved in the research project
are Michael Burnworth ’13, Jeremiah
Coogan ’13, Meghan Gegner ’14, Brian
Kelly ’13, Judy Kim ’15, Ethan Novak ’13,
Ryan Spice ’13; and teaching assistant

Anthropology
Dr. Jennifer Powell McNutt Biblical &
Theological Studies
Dr. Miho Nonaka English
Dr. Samuel Zadi Foreign Languages

Promotion from Associate Professor
to Professor

Jeremy Otten, a student in Wheaton’s

Dr. Christina Bieber Lake English

Ph.D. in Biblical and Theological

Dr. Cynthia Neal Kimball Psychology

Studies program.

Dr. William M. Struthers Psychology

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