Dockery joins Southwestern Seminary faculty

FORT WORTH (BP)—Theologian and educator David Dockery has joined the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary faculty as professor of theology.

Dockery most recently was president and chancellor of Trinity International University/Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Adam Greenway, president of Southwestern Seminary, announced Dockery’s faculty appointment at the seminary’s fall convocation Aug. 27.

In addition to serving as a theology professor, Dockery also will serve as the inaugural theologian-in-residence for the B.H. Carroll Center for Baptist Heritage and Mission and as special consultant to the president.

Dockery’s “decades of service as professor, academic administrator, institutional president, writing theologian and Baptist statesman have given him a breadth and depth of experience few individuals can match,” Greenway said.

“The opportunity to have Dr. Dockery not only in the classroom but as theologian-in-residence at the B.H. Carroll Center solidifies our commitment to articulating and advocating a robust vision for Baptist identity in the 21st century.”

Distinguished alumnus of Southwestern

Dockery was named a distinguished alumnus of Southwestern Seminary in 2002.

“My years as a student at Southwestern Seminary were formative for me in so many ways,” Dockery said. “During that time, I came to admire and appreciate the best of the Southwestern tradition and to better understand our Baptist and evangelical heritage.”

Serving as theologian-in-residence for the new B.H. Carroll Center “will provide opportunities to help this generation of students learn to appreciate the best of the Southwestern tradition and to be prepared to serve more faithfully in our 21st-century context with a greater understanding of what it means to be a Baptist-evangelical and an evangelical-Baptist,” Dockery said.

Southwestern Provost Randy L. Stinson called Dockery “one of the premier Southern Baptist scholars of this century.”

“His comprehensive understanding of Baptist life, the academy and broader evangelicalism is unparalleled. In this new role, he will be a central part of our efforts to increase our academic excellence,” Stinson said.

Scholarly and administrative achievements

In the early 1990s, Dockery served as vice president for academic administration and dean of the school of theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. In 1995, he was elected president of Union University in Jackson, Tenn.

In 2014, he was installed as Trinity’s 15th president and served in that role five years, then transitioned to the role of chancellor.

Dockery has written, edited or contributed to nearly 100 books, including Southern Baptist Consensus and Renewal and Theologians of the Baptist Tradition.

He was the New Testament editor for the 40-volume New American Commentary series and general editor of the 15-volume Reclaiming the Christian Intellectual Tradition series. He is co-editor of the forthcoming multi-volume Theology for the People of God series.

A past president of the Evangelical Theological Society and a consulting editor for Christianity Today, he has served as chair of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, the Consortium for Global Education and the Christian College Consortium.

Dockery holds a doctorate from the University of Texas at Arlington, Master of Divinity degrees both from Grace Theological Seminary and Southwestern Seminary, a Master of Arts degree from Texas Christian University and an undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

He and his wife Lanese have been married more than 40 years. They have three married sons and eight grandchildren.