Digging In: Passing the Torch

BAR has witnessed several important transitions over the past few years, and this issue marks yet another. Susan (Sue) Laden, the magazine’s longtime Publisher and the guiding force behind the Biblical Archaeology Society (BAS), is stepping back after nearly five decades of service to the organization (see “Celebrating BAR Publisher Susan Laden”). Her role now passes to her son Jonathan Laden, who has been BAS’s Chief Financial Officer since 2019 and has worked for BAS for the past 15 years.

Sue, along with the late Hershel Shanks and Sue Singer, created a rich legacy of publication excellence, making BAR the world’s top-selling magazine on biblical archaeology. Now it falls to us, BAR’s next generation, to carry on that legacy and grow the magazine and the society for the future.