Timothy Beal is a writer and scholar in the field of religious studies whose work explores matters of religion, ecology, and technology. He is Distinguished University Professor, Florence Harkness Professor of Religion, and Director of h.labatCase Western Reserve UniversityinCleveland, Ohio, USA. He has been Interim Dean of the university’s College of Arts and Sciences (2019), Chair of the Department of Religious Studies (2015-21), and Director (2003-07) and Associate Director (2002-03) of the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities.
Beal was born in Hood River, Oregon and was raised in Anchorage, Alaska. He went to college at Seattle Pacific University where he earned a B.A. in English in 1986. He earned a Master of Divinity at Columbia Theological Seminary in 1991, and a Ph.D. in Religion and Certificate in Women's and Gender Studies at Emory University in 1995. Before joining the faculty of Case Western Reserve University, he was an assistant professor of religious studies at Eckerd CollegeinSt. Petersburg, Florida (1994-1999). He has been visiting faculty at the Nida School for Translation Studies, the University of Denver, and the University of Glasgow. He is married to Clover Reuter Beal, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). They have two grown children, Sophie and Seth.
He was named Distinguished University Professor in 2021. He received a Public Scholar Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2016 and the Baker-Nord Center Award for Distinguished Scholarship in the Humanities in 2019.
In addition to scholarly articles, Beal has published essays on religion and culture for magazines and newspapers including The Wall Street Journal, Harper's Magazine, The New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Washington Post, and The Cleveland Plain Dealer. He has been featured on radio shows including NPR's All Things Considered and The Bob Edwards Show.