Theology has been taught at the University of Edinburgh since its foundation in 1583. New College was founded as the theological college of the Free Church of Scotland, following “The Disruption” of 1843. In 1935, New College was merged with the Faculty (now the School) of Divinity in the University of Edinburgh.

Other significant “firsts” for women in New College:

• In 1996, Ruth Page became the first female principal of New College.
• Marcella Althaus Reid was the first woman to hold a professorial chair.
• Elizabeth Templeton was the first woman to hold a full-time lectureship in the university’s Faculty of Divinity.
• In 2018, for the first time, the roles of Principal of New College and Head of the School of Divinity are both held by women – Professor Susan Hardman Moore and Professor Helen Bond.

More about Elizabeth Hewat

Edinburgh University alumni pages

More about Mary Levison (née Lusk)

Mary Levison Wrestling with the Church (1992: Arthur James Ltd)

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