Southwestern announces Hollifield, Harvell as 2026 Distinguished Alumni
Longtime Baptist leader and pastor Milton A. Hollifield Jr. and Chaplain and Retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Ronald M. Harvell have been named recipients of the 2026 distinguished alumni awards from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, President David S. Dockery announced today.
The honorees will be recognized during the Southwestern Seminary Alumni and Friends Luncheon on June 10 during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.
Milton A. Hollifield Jr.
Hollifield received a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern in 1980.
He led the work of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC) for nearly 15 years as executive director-treasurer and served as a staff member for more than 27 years overall. Prior to joining the state convention, Hollifield served as executive director of missions for the Gaston Baptist Association in Gastonia, N.C., and served as senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Stanley, N.C. While in seminary at Southwestern, he pastored West Shady Grove Baptist Church in Blue Ridge.
Hollifield retired from the BSCNC in 2021 and currently works with the North American Mission Board (NAMB) in a part-time role focusing on strategic planning and strengthening relationships between NAMB and Southern Baptist state conventions.
“During his 14-year tenure as the executive director-treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, Milton Hollifield led the state convention staff and churches in the convention to focus on prayer and disciple-making as these are foundational elements of his own life,” Dockery said. “Throughout his ministry service of local church pastor, associational missionary, and denominational leader, Milton has maintained an attitude of prayerfulness, humility, and a desire to share the Gospel that has garnered him the respect of many across the Southern Baptist Convention.”
Chaplain (Brig. Gen.) Ronald M. Harvell
Harvell graduated with a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern in 1986, then was commissioned by NAMB to become an Air Force Reserve chaplain. He served in the Reserves for five years before NAMB commissioned him for active duty in 1991. Due to the Air Force’s timing, his Doctor of Ministry degree, begun at Southwestern, was completed in Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, China, and the United States, through the Asia Graduate School of Theology in 2003
Harvell served 29 years in Air Force active duty chaplaincy, rising to the rank of deputy chief of chaplains at Military Corporate Headquarters in the Pentagon. In this role, he directed a corps of approximately 2,000 chaplains and religious affairs airmen from the active duty and Air Reserve components.
In 2020, Harvell joined Charleston Southern University as founding director of its Dewey Center for Chaplaincy. As director, he leads the only undergraduate Chaplaincy Ministry degree in the United States.
“As the United States celebrates 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we are grateful for men and women like Chaplain (Brig. Gen.) Ronald Harvell who have faithfully served the Lord and our country,” Dockery said. “With a heart for the Lord and his country, Chaplain Harvell has enjoyed an honorable and respectable tour of service. … We are grateful for this Southwesterner’s steadfast commitment to the Gospel and ministry through our country’s military.”
Free tickets for the Alumni and Friends Luncheon can be reserved here.
