Hindy Najman

Hindy Najman (born April 26, 1967) is an American academic specialising in Jewish studies and the Hebrew Bible. Since July 2015, she has been Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford. Previously, she was Director of the Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto from 2008 to 2012, and Professor of Religious Studies and Classics at Yale University from 2012 to 2015.

Education Najman began her higher education at Michlalah, a women's Torah study college in Jerusalem, Israel, from 1984 to 1985. Returning to the United States, she attended Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University, where she majored in English literature and minored in music theory and Jewish studies: she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1990. She taught at a high school from 1990 to 1992. Her doctoral advisor was James Kugel, and her thesis was titled "Authoritative Writing and Interpretation: A Study in the History of Scripture".

Academic career In 1998, Najman joined the University of Notre Dame as an assistant professor in its Department of Theology. She has also been Director of the Centre for the Study of the Bible at Oriel College since 2017.

Najman was president of the British Association for Jewish Studies from 2019 to 2020.

Awards and honors In 2021 a portrait of Najman painted by artist Nneka Uzoigwe was hung in the dining hall of Oriel College, Oxford.

Personal life Najman is married to Paul W. Franks and they have two children.

Selected works