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The story
AAR was founded in 1909 as the Association of Biblical Instructors in American Colleges and Secondary Schools. The name was changed to National Association of Biblical Instructors (NABI) in 1933. The American Academy of Religion was adopted as the organization name in 1963 to reflect its broader, inclusive mission to foster the academic study of all religions. Over its long history, AAR has broadened its scope to reflect contemporary values of its membership, such as responding to feminist scholarship and women in religion, increased attention to religions beyond Christianity, differentiation between theology and/or religious reflection within the academic study of religion as a cultural/historical/political phenomenon, and engagement with the public understanding of religion. Stausberg suggested that "Probably because of its more encompassing and open policy and its strategy to position itself as the default home for Religious Studies in the United States, the AAR has been a success story."
Presidents of the AAR have included well-known scholars such as Judith Plaskow, Mark Juergensmeyer, Wendy Doniger, Emilie Townes, Peter J. Paris, Rebecca Chopp, Elizabeth A. Clark and Ann Taves.
From Wikipedia’s article on American Academy of Religion, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4