UPLAND, Ind. (WordNews.org) March 16, 2021 — The Taylor University Board of Trustees announced the election of D. Michael Lindsay, current president of Gordon College in Wenham, Mass., as its next president following a competitive international search.

He will start Aug. 16, 2021, replacing previous Taylor Board Chair Paige Comstock Cunningham, who has served as interim president since Aug. 15, 2019. Previsious President Paul Lowell Haines resigned in August 2019 soon after former Vice President Mike Pence spoke at commencement, a move that proved to be controversial.

Lindsay has served as president of Gordon College since 2011. He previously announced his intention to step down as Gordon’s president effective June 30, 2021. Under his leadership, the school experienced record years growth, representing banner results in terms of fundraising and endowment growth; campus diversity, academic and student program development; sponsored research; athletic success; student satisfaction; and faith expression on campus. Gordon recently ended its best fiscal year ever and this spring is completing the school’s most ambitious and successful fundraising campaign to-date, including the largest gift ever given to a Christian college.

“Dr. Lindsay is a gifted individual of deep personal faith and proven servant leadership. He excels in areas of innovation and creative adaptation, and he is uniquely qualified to lead the University forward with humility, wisdom and courage,” said Chris Goeglein, M.B.A., Board Chair and PSC Co-Chair. “A respected Christian leader, Dr. Lindsay has a broad understanding of the complexities facing Christian higher education. His spiritual and intellectual development in cultivating and discipling the next generation of servant leaders is truly a calling.”

In response to his appointment, Lindsay said he and his wife Rebecca look forward to being a part of the university’s campus community.

“Taylor is one of the world’s foremost Christian institutions, and I thank God for the wisdom, strength and faithfulness that has characterized the school’s leadership for decades,” he said. “We are humbled to be called by God and honored by the board’s selection to serve the university, advance its distinctive mission in providing excellent, Christ-centered higher education and strengthen its promising prospects for future growth and development.”

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Manuel Rosado, board vice chair and co-chair of the Presidential Search Committee, said the board wanted an individual of strong conviction with a deep personal faith as well as someone “with the ability to articulate a compelling vision for Taylor consistent with its mission. We surveyed and listened attentively to the Taylor community before embarking on this journey. Throughout the process, our committee emphasized spiritual discernment and prayer, and it was clear that those who love Taylor were prayerfully supporting this important effort.”

Lindsay was the unanimous selection of the Presidential Search Committee, and he was elected unanimously by the Board of Trustees. He will enter the Office of the President on Aug. 16, 2021, assuming the role from previous Taylor Board Chair Paige Comstock Cunningham, Ph.D., J.D., who has served as Interim President of the University since Aug. 15, 2019.

Prior to arriving at Gordon, Lindsay was a member of the sociology faculty at Rice University, where he won multiple awards both for his teaching and academic research. He is the author of two dozen scholarly publications and numerous books, including Faith in the Halls of Power, which was nominated for the nonfiction Pulitzer Prize in 2007, and his award-winning View from the Top, which has been translated into Chinese and Japanese. His forthcoming book, Hinge Moments, will be released April 27, 2021 by InterVarsity Press.

Lindsay earned his Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University and graduate theological degrees from Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University and Princeton Theological Seminary. Lindsay and his wife Rebecca have been married for 25 years and are parents of three daughters: Elizabeth, 17, Caroline, 10, and Emily, 10. Rebecca Lindsay is a teacher and speaker who will serve as Taylor’s Ambassador for the University.

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