Among the hopes of a graduate student is the hope of finding a model of how to be a scholar and a human being in a whole-hearted, integrated way. From stories exchanged among students, I’ve learned that this hope is often unfulfilled. For me, as a student in the Temple University Department of Religion, however, this hope came to fruition almost before I was able to think it.

The year I began my program at Temple, Dr. Wright invited those who would be in his fall class to his home for a picnic. It was a wonderful opportunity to see the professor as person, an engaging and charming host, one whose home was a place to share rather than to hoard, a historical-textual scholar who loved working in wood, and a cook who made fantastic meatballs!

During the years of my coursework, comprehensive exam preparation, and dissertation writing, Dr. Wright was a teacher who pushed me to think, to reflect on both method and content, to extend the boundaries of the fields in which I was able to speak intelligently, to attend carefully to details of research and documentation. At the same time, he continued to be a warm mentor, an encouraging voice, and the on-going host with the meatball sandwiches.

Robert, I congratulate you on the publication of the critical Greek text of the Psalms of Solomon, and thank you for pushing me to sit in with one of your last translation seminars working on that text, when I wanted to just hole up in my office and work on my dissertation. I honor you for a career well fulfilled. And I extend my warmest best wishes to you and to Karen as you leave Temple, move to Arizona, and find new ideas to think and new adventures to pursue. Your influence continues in my work, as I seek to be a source of challenge, encouragement, and hope for my own students. (And if you have time while you’re packing, could you send me that meatball recipe?)

Nancy R. Heisey
Associate Professor of Biblical Studies and Church History
Eastern Mennonite University
Harrisonburg, VA
25 April 2006

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