College renaming, GTI center announced at spring trustee meeting

Trustees received reports on the renaming of the College at Southwestern and the establishment of the Patterson Center for Global Theological Innovation (GTI); elected officers; promoted and elected faculty; approved students for spring and summer graduation; approved a budget of $36,833,962 for the 2017-18 fiscal year; and conducted other business at their spring meeting, April 11-12.

Scarborough College

Trustees received a report from the meeting of the executive committee earlier this spring, where the committee voted to rename the College at Southwestern “the L.R. Scarborough College at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary” in honor of the seminary’s second president, Lee Rutland Scarborough. Scarborough College will continue the school’s original vision from its initial launch in 2005, aiming to lay a foundation on which God-called men and women can build a lifetime of ministry by equipping them to think biblically, reason truthfully, and share God’s Word effectively. In addition to its new name, Scarborough College also boasts a new mascot—the lions—and a new logo—a gold “S” over a blue background. For more information, see here.  

Patterson Center for GTI

The second item from the executive committee report, Southwestern’s Global Theological Innovation will now be based in the Patterson Center for GTI. GTI is a program of the seminary that aims to strengthen theological education around the world by forming strategic partnerships with seminaries and Baptist conventions overseas. Since its beginning in 2012, Southwestern has formed 67 GTI partnerships in 51 nations over five continents, reaching such diverse locations as Brazil, Cuba, Portugal, Lebanon and the Philippines. Because Southwestern President Paige Patterson was one of the architects of this initiative, trustees voted to name the new GTI center in his honor.

Officer Elections

Trustees elected three new officers for the board of trustees. Kevin Ueckert, lead pastor of the First Baptist Church of Georgetown, Texas, was elected chairman; David Maron, who works as an attorney in Jackson, Miss., was elected vice chairman; and Ronny Cooksey, pastor of Valley Baptist Church in McMinnville, Ore., was elected secretary.

Faculty Promotions

Scott Aniol, assistant professor of church music, was promoted to associate professor of church music.

Dongsun Cho, assistant professor of systematic and historical theology, was promoted to associate professor of systematic and historical theology.

Paul Gould, assistant professor of philosophy and Christian apologetics, was promoted to associate professor of philosophy and Christian apologetics.

Madison Grace, assistant professor of Baptist history and theology, was promoted to associate professor of Baptist history and theology.

John Laing, associate professor of systematic theology and philosophy, was promoted to professor of systematic theology and philosophy.

Dean Sieberhagen, assistant professor of missions and Islamic studies, was promoted to associate professor of Islamic studies.

Tom Keumsup Song, associate professor of church music, was promoted to professor of church music.

Douglas A. Wood, associate professor of education and worship, was promoted to professor of education and worship.

Faculty Elections

Matthew Harrison was elected assistant professor of foundations of education in the Terry School of Church and Family Ministries.

Brad Heller was elected assistant professor of English in the J. Dalton Havard School for Theological Studies in Houston.

Justin Hiester was elected assistant professor of missions in Scarborough College.

Nathan Holsteen was elected professor of systematic theology in the School of Theology.

Ethan Jones was elected assistant professor of Old Testament in Scarborough College.

Brandon Kiesling was elected assistant professor of evangelism in the Roy Fish School of Evangelism and Missions.

Andrew Streett was elected associate professor of biblical studies in the School of Theology.

Holsteen’s election is effective July 1. All other promotions and elections are effective August 1.