Fonds F2082 - John C. Hurd fonds

John Coolidge Hurd Jr was a theologian, educator, and pioneer of computer-assisted research in the humanities, who served as a professor in the Faculty of Divinity at a Trinity College from 1967 to 1993. He was born on 26 March 1928 in Boston, Massachusetts, and attended Harvard University where he received a BS in chemistry in 1949. He then attended the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, MA, obtaining a Bachelor of Divinity in 1952 before receiving an MA and PhD from Yale University in 1957 and 1961 respectively. He taught religion at Princeton University and New Testament at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas, before becoming a professor of New Testament Studies in the Faculty of Divinity at Trinity College, University of Toronto in 1967.

He served as editor-in-chief of the Anglican Theological Review (1966-1969) and was president of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (1972-1973) as well as the chairman of several other societies including the Working Group on Computer-Assisted Research in the Society of Biblical Literature, the Association of Theological Schools Selection Panel for Curriculum Development and Teaching, and several within the University of Toronto and Trinity College. For over twenty years Hurd served as Trinity's Director of Advanced Degree Studies. In 1977 he received an award from the Association of Theological Schools for the development of computer-assisted instructional materials in his Greek Tutor programme.

Hurd was appointed Dean of Divinity (pro tem) in 1992 and held that position until 30 June 1993. As dean, Hurd also sat on the Diocese of Toronto candidate committee and on the Provincial Commission on Theological Education. He is one of the founders of the Toronto School of Theology. In 2002 Trinity College awarded Hurd the degree of Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa).

Hurd's publications include A Bibliography of New Testament Bibliographies (1966), The Origin of 1 Corinthians (1984), and From Jesus to Paul: Studies in Honour of Francis Wright Beare (1984).

John C. Hurd married Helen Porter on 20 December 1948. They have three children, Elizabeth (born 7 March 1953), Louisa (born 22 January 1956), and Lyman (born 17 October 1961). Helen Hurd died 7 May 2016. John Hurd died 16 October 2025.