Prof. Susan Ackerman is Preston H. Kelsey Professor of Religion, Emerita, at Dartmouth College. She received a Masters of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University. Her books include Maturity, Marriage, Motherhood, Mortality: Women’s Life-Cycle Rituals in Ancient Israel; Gods, Goddesses, and the Women Who Serve Them; Women and the Religion of Ancient Israel; and When Heroes Love: The Ambiguity of Eros in the Stories of Gilgamesh and David. She is the co-editor of Celebrate Her for the Fruit of Her Hands: Essays in Honor of Carol L. Meyers. She served on board of the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem (2007–2013) and on the board of the American Society of Overseas Research formerly the American Schools of Oriental Research) from 2007–2024, including a six-year term as the organization’s president (2014–2019). She also served as the president of the New England and Eastern Canada Region of the Society of Biblical Literature (2013–2014).