Dr. Tony W. Cartledge
Professor of Old Testament
Dean’s Award for Excellence
Divinity School
Dr. Tony W. Cartledge, professor of Old Testament, is the 2024 recipient of the Dean’s Award for Excellence for the Campbell University Divinity School. A faculty member at Campbell since 2007, Cartledge has ministered to hundreds of students and to countless churches through his work as scholar, teacher, writer and expedition leader.
Cartledge shines in the classroom. He inspires students with a passion for the Old Testament, for preaching, for clear and effective writing, for the practice of ministry. His teaching is creative, not limited to lectures but infused with stories, pictures and music. He has even been known to break out in original rap compositions. He holds students to high standards, but he also makes clear his concern for every student, especially those who may be marginalized in many church settings.
Dr. Cartledge is a productive scholar — and in particular a scholar who is focused on the needs of the church. His publications include the two-volume Smyth & Helwys commentary on 1-2 Samuel, two volumes from the Smyth & Helwys Sessions Bible-study series (Sessions with Genesis and Sessions with Samuel), and numerous volumes in the Nurturing Faith Bible Series including Psalming the Blues and Patriarchs, Matriarchs, and Anarchs: Genesis 12-50. For many years he has authored a weekly Sunday School curriculum published in the Nurturing Faith Journal, and in recent years he has been producing the multi-volume Nurturing Faith Commentary, based on all the texts for every Sunday in the three-year cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary.
In addition to his scholarship, teaching and service to the church, Cartledge has provided invaluable service to the Divinity School, to Campbell University, and to the community. His service on the university’s Committee for Global Engagement and on the Divinity School’s Doctor of Ministry Committee have been especially significant. Cartledge has served as the faculty advisor for a number of Doctor of Ministry students, supervising their work and helping them to succeed. He also serves as a board member for the Copernicus Group Independent Review Board, which provides ethical review of clinical trials.
In 2009, Cartledge took the lead in reviving the Divinity School’s annual Bible Lands Study Tour, and since that time has led many groups of students, alumni and friends of the Divinity School to Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan. He has also added elective courses in archaeology to the Divinity School’s class offerings, and has led two groups of students on multi-week digs in Israel.
A 1973 graduate of the University of Georgia, Cartledge holds the additional degrees of Master of Divinity with languages from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Ph.D. in Old Testament from Duke University. He was the recipient of an Honorary Th.D. from Campbell University in 2005. Prior to coming to Campbell, Cartledge served as editor/president of the Biblical Recorder and as pastor of five churches. He and his wife Susan live in Cary, North Carolina.
It is with grateful appreciation that we recognize Dr. Tony W. Cartledge for his steadfast and devoted efforts to Campbell University Divinity School and its students. We are proud to recognize him as the recipient of the 2024 Dean’s Award for Excellence.
Dr. Andrew H. Wakefield
Dean and Professor
Divinity School