Susan Ackerman

Susan Ackerman (born September 24, 1958) is an American Hebrew Bible scholar known for writing about biblical women.

Ackerman majored in religion at Dartmouth College (A.B., 1980) and Harvard University (M.T.S., 1982; Ph.D. 1987). Her dissertation was entitled Syncretism in Israel as Reflected in Sixth-Century Prophetic Texts. She later taught at University of Arizona and Winthrop College.

In 1990, Ackerman joined Dartmouth's faculty. There, she was a Preston H. Kelsey Professor of Religion; a Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and a Professor of Jewish Studies. She specialized in the religion of ancient Israel and its neighbors (Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Canaan), especially women's religious history.

In 2024, Ackerman retired from teaching and remained in Hanover, New Hampshire, to complete Maturity, Marriage, Motherhood, Mortality, a book on women's rituals in ancient Israel.

Awards

Dartmouth Dean of Faculty Award for Exceptional Service (2023) "Why Is Miriam Also Among the Prophets? (And Is Zipporah Among The Priests?)." Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 121, No. 1 (Spring 2002) "Digging up Deborah: Recent Hebrew Bible Scholarship on Gender and the Contribution of Archaeology." Near Eastern Archaeology, Vol. 66, No. 4 (December 2003)