Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty Named J. Roy Davis Family Chair of Theology and History at UPSem’s Charlotte Campus

Charlotte, NC (February 19, 2025)—Union Presbyterian Seminary is pleased to announce the inauguration of the Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty, Professor of Theology and Ethics on March 1, 2025, as the J. Roy Davis Family Chair of Theology and History at UPSem’s Charlotte Campus. 

A graduate of Union (Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education—Ph.D.), Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and William Jewell College (B.A.), Hinson-Hasty brings decades of experience and knowledge to her role.  

She frequently preaches and teaches on matters of faith and public life to congregations, non-profits, colleges, universities, and international audiences. In February she gave the prestigious William L. Self Preaching Lectures at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology: “The Sacredness of Chaos,” “Claiming your Story in the Pulpit,” and “The Ethics of Preaching Amid Political Polarization.” A prolific author, she often writes about affluence, social justice, ethics, and mental illness. In May 2025 Orbis Books will release her seventh book and fifth monograph, Authentic Christian Freedom: Deconstructing the American Gospel of Liberty. For a complete list of publications, please view her Curriculum Vitae. 

Hinson-Hasty has received many awards for her scholarship and teaching. Her honors include an Associated Church Press award (2015), a Fulbright scholarship (2010), and the Wilson Wyatt Faculty Fellowship for excellence in teaching and scholarship (2010). 

Hinson-Hasty remains committed to ecumenical and interfaith dialogue. She recently served as a member at large of the PC(USA) Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment and on the board of the Society of Christian Ethics. Other contributions to the connectional church include serving on the PC (USA) Advocacy Committee on Women’s Concerns, chairing the Design Team for the Churchwide Study of the Status of Women, as a research consultant for the World Council of Churches’ North American Regional Forum and Hearings on Poverty, Wealth, and Ecology (2010-2014), and continues to serve on the board for the American Waldensian Society. 

A North Carolina entrepreneur and philanthropist who began S&D Coffee in 1927 is the namesake of the J. Roy Davis Family Chair of Theology and History. As his business expanded to foodservice, restaurants, hospitals, and convenience stores, Davis, an active Presbyterian deacon and elder, became well known in Cabarrus County. As a supplier to over 8,000 McDonald’s restaurants, and later Applebee’s and Olive Garden, S&D prospered. Davis and his wife, Sue, were members at First Presbyterian in Concord, NC, where they gave back to their local community.  

The public is invited to attend the inauguration and worship service at 11:45 a.m. on March 1 at Sharon Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC, where Hinson-Hasty will speak on The Freedom to Live in Self-Giving Love for the Sake of Others.  

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Contact: Barb Dodd
Director of Communications
bdodd@upsem.edu
(804) 278-4279 direct