Wayne Meeks

January 10, 2023

Wayne Atherton Meeks, born January 8, 1932 in Aliceville, Alabama, died peacefully just after his 91st birthday, on January 10, 2023.

Wayne was Woolsey Professor of Biblical Studies Emeritus in the Department of Religious Studies at Yale, where he taught for 30 years and served in leadership positions in the Department and the University. Earlier, he taught at Indiana University and Dartmouth College. His B.D. was from Austin Theological Seminary. Ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1956, he was university pastor in Memphis and later at Yale, where he received his Ph.D. in religious studies. He served as president of the Society of Biblical Literature and Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas. He held an honorary doctorate from the University of Uppsala and was Fellow of the British Academy and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was widely known and respected for scholarly work on the writings of the apostle Paul and on the Fourth Gospel; for his study of the social history of earliest Christianity and the formation of Christian morality.

Beyond his scholarly accomplishments, Wayne was a beloved teacher and mentor, gifted woodworker, wordsmith extraordinaire, devoted husband, and a fabulous dad, grandpa and great-grandpa. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Martha Fowler Meeks, and by his brothers, Kenyon and Rufus Meeks. Left to cherish his memory are his three daughters, Suzanne Meeks (Russell Vandenbroucke), Edith Meeks (Peter Coston), and Ellen Meeks (Kevin McCarty), granddaughter Elena Meeks (Kevin Laskee), two greatgrandsons, Vincent Meeks and Vaughn Laskee, his wife of 23 years, Judith Colton, and countless others whose lives he touched.

Donations in Wayne’s memory may be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center or to HomeHaven. A memorial service will be arranged at Yale at a later date. Arrangements are with the Hawley Lincoln Memorial, 424 Elm St. New Haven.