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Reverend Dr. Dong Hyeon Jeong was awarded the 2021-2022 General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM) Exemplary Teaching Award at 91PORN’s 165^th Commencement on May 13, 2022. Jeong is assistant professor of New Testament interpretation and director of the Center for Asian/Asian American Ministry at Garrett-Evangelical.

The GBHEM Exemplary Teaching Award is awarded each year to a faculty member who has been nominated by their institution’s leaders for exceptional service to the school and excellent in education. Selection criteria include excellence in teaching, civility and concern for students and colleagues, commitment to value-centered education, and service to students, the institution, and the community.

Testifying to Jeong’s transformative impact on their learning experience, one student wrote, “Over the span of this academic year, the professor not only took it upon himself to strategically and intellectually convey the course material, but he also demonstrated a praxis of professorship that is often missed in academic settings: being a person, a human being, being an individual. … I give thanks [for] the work and human-ness of [Dr. Jeong]!”

“I am truly honored to receive this amazing award!” said Jeong. “As I reflect upon reaching this milestone in my teaching career, I have realized more than ever that I am who I am as a teacher because of my students. This award is a culmination of the wisdom my students imparted to me throughout the years. I hear you, I remember you, and I thank you, my students from Garrett, Drew, Rutgers, Maranatha, and Academy of Saint Elizabeth.”

In her presentation at commencement, Rev. Dr. Mai-Anh Le Tran, academic dean and vice president of academic affairs, noted how changes around COVID-19, vaccine mandates, the increasing number of teaching modalities, and teaching students who are scattered across time zones and geographic regions presented unprecedented challenges for all of higher education. Though every member of Garrett-Evangelical’s faculty has persevered and stepped up to the challenge of teaching during this academic year, Jeong in particular stood out.

“[Dr. Jeong] was uniformly affirmed as a gift, a fantastic and brilliant teacher … who is inclusive, open, and authentic in their approach to the students and the material of their teaching; who is incredibly knowledgeable and wise; who shows deep and genuine care for students; who sets an example for practicing discernment in the Spirit; and who models leadership beyond the classroom,” said Tran.

Jeong joined the faculty in the summer of 2020. The son of Korean missionaries in the Philippines, he is an ordained elder in the Philippine Central Conference, Manila Episcopal Area, Southwest Philippines Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.

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Garrett-Evangelical is excited to announce that Dr. Dong Hyeon Jeong will join the faculty as Assistant Professor of New Testament Interpretation, effective July 1, 2020. Jeong brings a wealth of expertise including biblical studies and languages, social justice, race and ethnicity, and posthumanism. The son of Korean missionaries in the Philippines, Jeong is an ordained elder in the Philippine Central Conference, Manila Episcopal Area, Southwest Philippines Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.

“I welcome Dr. Jeong as my New Testament colleague,” said Dr. K. K. Yeo, the Harry R. Kendall Professor of New Testament Interpretation and chairperson of the search committee. “In our current state of pandemic and isolation, I am thrilled to see the new things Dr. Jeong would help our seminary forge ahead in teaching and research that are not only biblically grounded, but also interdisciplinary and intersectional. He is simply a gifted, kind, and courageous human being, a wonderful ‘hybrid’ not fitting exactly any ‘boxes’ of Anglo-Saxon, Tagalog, Korean, Syrian, etc.”

Jeong comes to Garrett-Evangelical from the Academy of Saint Elizabeth in Morristown, New Jersey, where he served as a religion teacher and the department chair, as well as Rutgers University, where he served as part-time lecturer.

When asked about this appointment Jeong said, “I am honored and excited to be part of the Garrett community! I find Garrett’s pursuit for academic excellence and desire to become a beloved community that cares for the other (human and more-than-human), seeks reconciliation in an ever-divisive world, and passionately shares the Gospel key attributes that draw me to this amazing institution. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you all.”

Jeong earned his doctor of philosophy in New Testament and early Christianity from Drew University in 2018. He holds master of divinity and master of theology degrees from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, and a bachelor of arts in economics from the University of Santo Tomas.

Throughout his studies and career, Jeong’s work has been recognized with numerous awards including the Helen LePage and William Hale Chamberlain Best Dissertation Award; the Forum for Theological Exploration Doctoral Fellow; and the Newhall Teaching Fellow. In May 2019, he received the Panther Pride Best Teacher Award from community members of the Academy of Saint Elizabeth.

His book With the Wild Beasts, Learning from Trees is forthcoming and will be published by the Society of Biblical Literature Press, Semeia Series. Articles written include “Jesus’ Triumphal Entry as a Flash Mob Event: Molecular ‘r’evolution in Mark 11:1-11” and “The (Processed) Vegetal Body and Blood of the Markan Messiah.”

91PORN, a graduate school of theology related to The United Methodist Church, was founded in 1853. Located on the campus of Northwestern University, the seminary serves more than 450 students from various denominations and cultural backgrounds, fostering an atmosphere of ecumenical interaction. Garrett-Evangelical creates bold leaders through master of divinity, master of arts, master of theological studies, doctor of philosophy, and doctor of ministry degrees. Its 4,500 living alumni serve church and society around the world.

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