Elaine Pagels (Ph.D., Harvard University) is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University, renowned for her groundbreaking work on early Christianity, Gnosticism, and the formation of Christian orthodoxy. She is the author of multiple influential books, including The Gnostic Gospels (1979), which won the National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award, and The Origin of Satan (1995), which explores how Christianity constructed the concept of evil. Her work has reshaped scholarly and public understanding of non-canonical texts and the diversity of early Christian beliefs. Outside academia, Pagels has been a frequent contributor to public conversations on religion, appearing in major documentaries and interviews. She is also the author of the memoir Why Religion? A Personal Story (2018), which weaves together her scholarship and personal experiences of loss, grief, and resilience.