When Andrew and Georgia Ekonomou decided to make a significant gift to Emory, they gave a lot of thought to the gift’s intended purpose. Both have long relationships with the university: Andrew through his associations with history and law, and Georgia through her involvement with the Department of Music.
“But there is something extraordinary about Candler School of Theology that represents a core value within the university, and we want to see that perpetuated,” Andrew says.
The resulting Andrew J. and Georgia L. Ekonomou Distinguished Professorship of Patristic Theology — Candler’s third distinguished professorship — has been awarded to Anthony A. Briggman, MDiv, PhD. Briggman’s academic research interests include Greek, Latin and Syriac theologies developed between AD 100 and 600. He is currently studying how Christians in these centuries employed ancient scientific theories to explain the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Briggman also teaches in the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies and the departments of religion and history in Emory College of Arts and Sciences. He is on research leave for the 2024–25 academic year and says he is honored and grateful to receive the distinguished professorship.
“This generous gift allows me to further research the formation of the early Christian church and the development of theological strands of thought that remain fundamental to much of our current understanding of the faith,” Briggman says.
The Ekonomous are just as pleased with Candler’s choice of Briggman.
“We are invested in the history, theology and literature of the early church, and we really wanted somebody who would explore those areas,” Andrew says. “Professor Briggman is very interested in Christology, which explores the nature of Christ and his relationship to humans. The scholars of the early Church spoke about those things, and they also gave us our first written statement of the faith in 325 at the Ecumenical Council in Nicaea.”
Andrew’s own doctoral dissertation examined many issues central to patristic theology.
“Questions such as who is Christ, what is his nature and form, why did he come to Earth, what is the relationship between humans and God — these are questions that the fathers of the church wrote about,” he says. “Candler gave us the opportunity to make a contribution to this field of scholarship through this professorship.”
The Andrew J. and Georgia L. Ekonomou Distinguished Professorship of Patristic Theology is part of President Gregory L. Fenves’ faculty eminence initiative, which has inspired 20 new professorships and 13 distinguished professorships across Emory University.
This distinguished professorship builds on Candler’s commitment to educate faithful and creative leaders for the church’s ministries throughout the world.
“I can think of no better foundation for Christian ministry than a solid grounding in the theology of the early church,” says Jonathan Strom, the Mary Lee Hardin Willard Dean of Candler School of Theology. “This tremendous gift will deepen Candler’s longstanding strengths in history and theology, which will enrich our scholarship, research and teaching.”
Strengthening “Emory’s soul”
The Ekonomous share a deep connection to the university. Andrew has four degrees from Emory: a bachelor’s in philosophy, a master’s in medieval history, a law degree and a doctorate in medieval history. He has enjoyed a successful law career as a senior partner at the Atlanta firm of Boyce, Ekonomou & Atkinson. He has also written several books, including “Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes” (an outgrowth of his doctoral dissertation), and taught medieval history and literature at both Emory and Georgia State University.
“I graduated from a relatively unknown high school in Florida, and coming to Emory was life-changing for me,” he says. “I had some tremendous professors who opened up a world of history that I never knew existed.”
He mentions George Cuttino and Roberta Bondi, both of whom had PhDs from Oxford University, and Carl Bain, who taught Chaucer. “For our final exam, he wrote the following prompt on the board: ‘Define Chaucerian.’ Now that really challenges a student!” Andrew took the same approach when he taught Byzantine history, using “Define Byzantine” as his final exam prompt.
Georgia didn’t matriculate at Emory, but she has spent more time on campus than many alumni. Several members of her family graduated from Emory, including her father, Judge Nick G. Lambros; her sister, Vangela L. Cosby; and her nephew, Nick C. Lambros.
“My mother was on the music faculty, and she was the concertmaster of the Atlanta Emory Orchestra, so I went to rehearsals with her every Wednesday night,” she says.
Georgia began playing violin as a child, “and my mother decided I was going to play in the Emory orchestra, as well. I remember playing great orchestral and choral works when I was still in elementary school.”
After college, she moved back to Atlanta to teach music and became the string orchestra coach at Emory.
“I helped develop the Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra Program and conducted the Emory Junior Chamber Orchestra for 14 years.” She also served as orchestra director at The Lovett School and later at The Paideia School, from which she retired.
The distinguished professorship, for the Ekonomous, is more than a gift.
“I think it’s our solemn duty to support Emory so that future generations will profit. Georgia and I are both Greek Orthodox, and we know that you can’t take your treasure with you,” Andrew says.
They are equally adamant about supporting Candler.
“The College may be Emory’s heart, but Candler School of Theology is Emory’s soul,” he says. “When you give to Candler, you nurture the very soul of the university.”