James K. “Jamie” Dew Jr., vice president for undergraduate studies and distance learning at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, has been nominated as the next president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
The presidential search committee will present Dew to the full trustee board for a vote on June 5.
“As a committee, our focus has been to find the heart of God and the man that God has chosen for this role,” said Frank Cox, chairman of the NOBTS presidential search committee. “After much prayer and research, we have been led to unanimously nominate Dr. Jamie Dew.
“It is our firm conviction that Dr. Dew embodies the DNA of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary,” Cox said. “We believe he will make a great president and will bring out the best in the next generation of Southern Baptists.”
Cox cited Dew’s academic preparation and experience, his ministry background and his engaging personality among the top reasons the committee is recommending the 42-year-old North Carolina native for the role.
An extensive presidential search process was initiated after Chuck Kelley’s October 2018 announcement that he planned to retire on July 31, 2019. Cox, chairman of the NOBTS trustee board at the time, selected a diverse committee to conduct the presidential search. The 11-member committee, NOBTS noted, included male, female, Asian, African American and Caucasian and represented a wide range of backgrounds including educators, administrators, pastors, students and business leaders.
The committee launched its efforts with a time of focused prayer in November 2018. Later, they called on Southern Baptists to nominate qualified individuals.
Cox said the committee received many nominations from Southern Baptists including three African American nominees and one Hispanic nominee. In total, he noted, the committee carefully reviewed 20 candidates.
The committee considered all the candidates equally, regardless of age or ethnicity. One of the four finalists for the nomination, Cox said, was African American and was interviewed extensively by the committee. The top candidates ranged in age from 42 to 63.
“We were impressed by all four of these candidates — they are all great men,” Cox said.
The committee felt an immediate connection with Dew during their first interview with him.
“When we sat down with him the first time, we had a God moment as a committee,” Cox said. “We realized that God had His hand on Dr. Dew. Every time we met with him, we became more convinced that he was God’s man for NOBTS.”
Dew was elected to serve on the SEBTS faculty in 2011. Since 2013 he has directed the work of the College at Southeastern and served as a member of the SEBTS president’s cabinet. From 2013 until 2014, Dew served as dean of the College at Southeastern. In 2014, Dew’s role expanded when he was named vice president for undergraduate studies and distance learning. As vice president, Dew supervises the college, all aspects of distance learning, the prison programs, and the writing center.
Dew also teaches and mentors undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students in his role as associate professor of philosophy and the history of ideas at SEBTS.
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Source: Baptist Press
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