After obtaining her Bachelor of Arts from Birmingham-Southern College (1971), Newsom moved to Harvard University where she earned an M.T.S. from the Divinity School in 1975 and a Doctor of Philosophy from the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations.
She currently works at Emory University where she holds several positions, including Charles Howard Candler Professor of Old Testament at the Candler School of Theology, and Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion. Her work has particularly focused on the Dead Sea Scrolls, wisdom literature, and apocalyptic literature. While doing her Doctor of Philosophy there, she also began working at Emory University where she has held various positions since 1980.
In 2005 she became Charles Howard Candler Professor of Old Testament.
In the administrative realm, Newsom served as associate dean of faculty development (2002-2005) and currently acts as director of the Graduate Division of Religion (since 2012).
Newsom has been awarded grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, American Council of Learned Societies, American Theological Association, and Henry Luce Foundation, among others She has also delivered any number of special lectures: the Kittel Lecture of Yale Divinity School, the Alexander Thompson Lecture of Princeton Theological Seminary, the Chisolm Lecture of Yale Divinity School, the John Priest Lecture of Florida State University, the Chi Rho Lecture of Central Lutheran Church in Eugene, Oregon, and the Zenos Lecture of McCormick Theological Seminary. Newsom holds two honorary degrees: in 2006 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Birmingham Southern College (2006), before receiving an honorary Doctor of Theology from the University of Copenhagen in 2009.
