Linda A. Moody, Ph.D., Graduate Dean

Linda A. Moody, Ph.D. Graduate Dean

Dr. Linda A. Moody has enjoyed a career in higher education combining teaching, scholarship and administration.  In the course of her career, Dr. Moody has led strategic academic planning and budgeting initiatives; overseen faculty hiring, mentoring, and development; led academic program development initiatives resulting in new degree programs and concentrations; coordinated academic aspects of assessment, accreditation, and licensure; overseen academic program reviews and IRB; supervised marketing and enrollment of graduate and continuing education programs; facilitated faculty grant writing and implementation; and successfully planned and implemented fundraising initiatives with alumni, trustees and donors. 

For the past seven years Dr. Moody has served as Graduate Dean at Mount St. Mary's College.  Founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1925, Mount St. Mary's College is dedicated to the mission of providing students with an excellent education and preparing students for leadership and service.  In conjunction with graduate program directors and admissions staff, Moody has successfully led enrollment growth efforts in the Graduate Division's academic and professional programs, including the development of a new MBA Program and graduate nursing bridge program.

Before joining Mount St. Mary’s, Moody was chief academic officer and Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of Humanities at Antioch University’s Los Angeles campus from 2001 to 2005.   From 1985 to 2001 Dr. Moody was at Mills College in Oakland, where, among other roles, she held the Robert F. Leavens Endowed Chair for the Chaplaincy and Teaching of Religion.  At Mills, Moody served as a member of the Women's Studies faculty, teaching in the areas of women’s studies and religious studies.  In addition, she has also taught courses in religious studies at Santa Clara University, the Graduate Theological Union, and Pacific School of Religion. 

In the field of religious studies, Dr. Moody has been actively involved in the leadership of the academy at both the national and the regional level for many years. Moody was recently elected to national office as Treasurer of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and serves on the AAR Board of Directors, the Executive Committee, and as Chair of the Finance Committee.  She previously served as a member of the AAR Board of Directors from 1999 - 2006 and was a member of the Finance Committee and Executive Director Search Committee. From 1994-1997, she served as the Co-Convener of the national Women’s Caucus: Religious Studies. In the AAR Western Region she served as the Fund Raising Chair from 1995-96, the Vice President/Program Chair from 1996-97, President from 1997-98 and Regionally-Elected Director from 1999- 2006. She served two terms as Vice President of the Western Commission on the Study of Religion (WECSOR) and was President of WECSOR from 2002-2005. Moody is a member of both the American Academy of Religion and the Society for Biblical Literature.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Moody was active in international education, serving on the Board of the National Association for Foreign Student Affairs (NAFSA), Region XII (Chair, Committee on Women International); as International Student Advisor at Mills; and as Associate Director for Finance (1986-1988) and Associate Director for Curriculum (1982-1986) at the English Center for International Women (ECIW) at Mills. She taught English as a Second Language classes designed for Mills international graduate and undergraduate students as well immigrant and refugee students at ECIW, Armstrong College, and ELS at Holy Names College.  Dr. Moody chaired the Bay Area Conference on the United Nations Decade for Women, held at Mills College in 1985, and served as editor and contributor, Journal of Women and Religion:  United Nations Decade for Women World Conference and Forum '85 Meetings, Nairobi, Kenya.

Dr. Moody graduated with distinction from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor with a major in Spanish. She also holds a master’s degree from the University of Michigan in Teaching English as a Second Language and a Master of Divinity degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. She received her Ph.D. in Systematic and Philosophical Theology and Philosophy of Religion from the Graduate Theological Union, as part of the Cooperative Program between GTU and UC Berkeley, under the direction of GTU Professors Dr. Benjamin Reist (Chair), Dr. Claire B. Fisher, Dr. George Cummings, and UC Berkeley Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Chair of Chicano Studies, Dr. Margarita Melville. 

Dr. Moody is author of nearly twenty chapters and articles, as well as the book, Women Encounter God: Theology Across the Boundaries of Difference.  She is currently doing research on a new book to be entitled A Thousand Songs: A History of 19th Century Women’s Hymn Writing.  Linda’s teaching interests include American religious thought, women's studies and religion, and Catholic liberation theologies. 

One of the early leaders in the ecumenical woman clergy movement, Dr. Moody became a licensed American Baptist minister in 1978 and was ordained in 1984. In addition to her other roles, she currently serves as Minister-At-Large to Higher Education for Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church.

Linda's hobbies include fishing, gardening, and playing the guitar.  In women's athletics, Moody and her Ann Arbor team-mates were  pioneers, playing on the first women's intercollegiate basketball team at the University of Michigan.  She also played fast pitch and slow pitch softball (AAA) in Michigan and Kentucky and coached high school girls basketball and softball.