DALLAS—Dallas Baptist University installed Adam Wright as its sixth president Sept. 9 at an inaugural convocation in the Patty and Bo Pilgrim Chapel on the DBU campus.
Dallas Baptist University President Adam Wright“Imagine a university so consecrated that its singular focus is set on loving God and loving others; so focused on being excellent in all things as a reflection of a perfect God. We will aim is to be this university,” Wright said in his inaugural address.
“We will stand as a global, Christ-centered university with a heart and passion for the world—with a compassion to serve and to lead others through the love and peace that only Christ provides.”
Wright, elected by the DBU board of trustees May 19 following a national search, assumed office June 1, succeeding Gary Cook as president.
“Adam loves the Lord with all his heart and will turn things over to him on a daily basis, and that is the most important thing a Christian university president can do,” said Cook, who announced his transition to the chancellor position in February 2015, following 28 years as president.
A native of Oak Cliff, Wright attended DBU as an undergraduate student, where he met his wife, Candice. He became a student leader on the campus, serving as president of the Student Government Association, before being asked to join the staff of DBU his senior year.
In 2005, Cook appointed him as special assistant to the president for advancement, charging him with raising more than $25 million for the construction of the Patty and Bo Pilgrim Chapel. In 2010, he was named vice president for advancement.
After completing his master of education degree in higher education and his Ph.D. in leadership studies, Wright was appointed in 2013 as dean of the Gary Cook School of Leadership, where he led in increasing the academic offerings of the school, recruiting new faculty members, and developing new master’s programs. In addition, he taught leadership courses, led domestic and international travel study courses, supervised doctoral research, shaped curriculum, and maintained an active role in international leadership and academic societies.
In 2014, he founded DBU’s Institute for Global Engagement, a Christian think tank with a focus on connecting scholars and practitioners in order to become catalysts for moral and spiritual renewal.
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The Wrights have two daughters, Abigail Grace and Katherine Elizabeth, and are members of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas.
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