The Wheaton Record
Wheaton, Ill.

Sept. 16, 2005

First Ph.D. student to graduate
By Sarah Pulliam
Chris Beetham grinned as he hugged his wife after being announced as Dr. Beetham.
Beetham was the first student to complete Wheaton’s first Ph.D. program Sept. 9 and received his degree in biblical and theological studies.
Wheaton’s doctoral program in psychology began in 1993 as its first doctoral program. Since 1998, the program has graduated about 120 students.
Moo has been the director of the Ph.D. program since its 2002 inception. The program consists of 22 students and Moo does not plan to expand the program.
Beetham defended his dissertation in front of a group of about 20 professors and doctoral students who filled a small classroom in Armerding Hall and took detailed notes.
Director of the Ph.D. program, Doug Moo and Andrew Das, a professor at Elmhurst College, critiqued Beetham’s 362-page dissertation entitled, “Scriptures of Israel and the Letter of Paul to the Colossians,” before entering into a private executive session to decide whether Beetham should become the first recipient of Wheaton’s Ph.D. program.
When Beetham was called back into the classroom he was told that he had successfully defended his dissertation.
“It was a fantastic moment,” Beetham said. “All I wanted to do was go and hug [my wife] Mindy, who was still waiting outside to hear their decision.”
Beetham was then congratulated by his wife, peers and professors after his dissertation supervisor G.K. Beale announced him as Dr. Beetham.
Beale, a professor in the Ph.D. program, described Beetham as a competent and humble student.
“Although I was somewhat nervous, I was confident that the dissertation was a good piece of work,” Beale said. “I think it was a very good first oral examination for the program.”
Beetham and his wife Mindy have three children: Sam, 6; Kate, 3; and Erin, 1. He and his family will move to Ethiopia before the end of the year where Beetham will be a professor at Evangelical Theological College and the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology. He will make some minor changes to his dissertation before his official graduation.
Beetham graduated from Wheaton in 1999 with Bachelor of Arts degrees in ancient languages and Biblical studies after spending four years in the Air Force. He spent three years at Gordon-Conwell Seminary and received his masters degrees in Old Testament and New Testament before entering the 2002 inaugural class of Wheaton’s Ph.D. program.
Provost Stan Jones said he is thrilled to have the first graduate of the Ph.D. program.
He said, “The Ph.D. program in Biblical and Theological Studies was started with the fervent hope that its graduates would build the Church and serve society as teachers and scholars who can bring the strengths of the evangelical tradition to churches and school around the world.”