Strata: Milestone: D. Moody Smith Jr. (1931–2016)

D. Moody Smith, the George Washington Ivey Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Duke Divinity School, passed away at age 84 in May.

D. Moody Smith was born in 1931 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Davidson College in North Carolina and went on to pursue first a B.D. (Bachelors of Divinity) from Duke University and then an M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University. Smith’s first teaching appointment was in 1960 at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio. In 1965 he joined the faculty of Duke, where he taught both in the Divinity School and the graduate program in religion. Smith’s scholarship focused on the Gospel of John and 1-3 John in the New Testament. In a Bible Review article, he explored whether John, the author of the previously mentioned Biblical books, was a historian or theologian.^a

While at Duke, he served as the George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament and the Director of Graduate Studies in Religion. He also acted as President of the Society of Biblical Literature in 1999.

Smith enjoyed tennis and traveling with his wife, Jane, with whom he celebrated 61 years of marriage. He is survived by his wife, four children and six granddaughters.