Posted: 12/19/03
Akin nominated to succeed Patterson
as Southeastern Seminary president
WAKE FOREST, N.C. (ABP)–Daniel Akin, academic dean at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., will be recommended as president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., next month.
A special meeting of Southeastern's trustees has been set for Jan. 15, when the recommendation will be presented, said Timothy Lewis, trustee chairman and chairman of the search committee. If elected, Akin will succeed Paige Patterson, who left to become president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. All three seminaries are owned by the Southern Baptist Convention.
“Dr. Akin is a man with great vision, keen insight and spiritual understanding,” Lewis said in a news release. “His enthusiasm is contagious and genuine. We do not feel any other man in Southern Baptist life could better follow Dr. Patterson than Dr. Daniel Akin.”
Akin, 46, is vice president for academic administration and dean of the School of Theology at Southern Seminary. He previously worked with Patterson at Southeastern as professor of theology, dean of students and vice president for student services from 1992 to 1996.
From 1986 to 1992, he was professor of New Testament, theology and history at Criswell College in Dallas, where at the time Patterson was president. Akin also served on the staff of First Baptist Church of Dallas, was associate pastor of Audelia Road Baptist Church in Dallas and assistant pastor of Northlake Baptist Church in Dallas.
He earned a bachelor's degree from Criswell College, a master of divinity degree from Southwestern Seminary, and a doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Texas at Arlington.
He was New Testament editor of “The Believers Study Bible” by Thomas Nelson Publishers and wrote the volume on the epistles of John for the New American Commentary series.
In 1996, Christianity Today magazine named Akin one of 50 emerging Christian leaders under the age of 40. He is a member of several professional organizations, including the Southern Baptist Historical Society, the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, and the Evangelical Theological Society.
Akin and his wife, Charlotte, have been married 25 years and have four children–twins Daniel and Jonathan, 22; Paul, 20; and Timothy, 18.
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, with its main campus in Wake Forest, N.C, was founded in 1951. In 1987, it was the first of the six SBC seminaries to come under the control of fundamentalists, who rose to power in 1979.
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