Willem A. VanGemeren, PhD

Willem A. VanGemeren is director of the Doctor of Philosophy in Theological Studies program and professor of Old Testament and Semitic languages at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He has taught at Trinity since 1992.

Dr. VanGemeren came to Trinity from Reformed Theological Seminary, where he taught Old Testament for fourteen years and served as chair of their Old Testament department for eight years. Dr. VanGemeren has also taught at Geneva College, the University of Wisconsin, and Westminster Theological Seminary. In addition to his teaching experience, Dr. VanGemeren has preached in many Reformed churches over a twenty-year period.

Dr. VanGemeren received the diploma from Christelijk Lyceum in Holland, the diploma from Moody Bible Institute, the Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from the University of Illinois, the Bachelor of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Master of Arts and the Doctor of Philosophy in Hebrew and Old Testament from the University of Wisconsin. He has also studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel.

Dr. VanGemeren's areas of expertise include Old Testament, Hebrew, Old Testament theology, poetry, and the book of Isaiah. He is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, the Evangelical Theological Society, and the Institute for Biblical Research.

Dr. VanGemeren's published works include contributions to such works as The Bible Almanac, Expository Dictionary of the Old Testament, Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, Baker's Encyclopedia of the Bible, Continuity and Discontinuity, and Layman's Bible Handbook. He is the author of The Progress of Redemption: The Story of Salvation from Creation to the New Jerusalem, Interpreting the Prophetic Word, and a commentary on the book of Psalms for the Expositor's Bible Commentary. In 1997 Dr. VanGemeren was honored by Zondervan Publishing House for his service as senior editor of the five-volume work The New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology (NIDOTT). He also coedited Studies in Old Testament Biblical Theology.

Dr. VanGemeren and his wife, Evona, reside in Libertyville, Illinois. They have three children. In the past Dr. VanGemeren has taken groups of people on tours of Israel.