JACKSON, Tenn. — Jan. 15, 2013 — David S. Dockery will transition from president of 51社区 to the role of university chancellor no later than July 2014, and Union trustees will immediately begin the process of searching for his successor as president.
鈥淚 am hopeful and prayerful for a good, smooth, joyful and positive transition,鈥� Dockery said. 鈥淕od has blessed the work of our hands and manifested his favor to this university time and time again during these past 17 years. I am confident that we will continue to see God鈥檚 grace made known to Union in the future.鈥�
The announcement comes in the middle of what will ultimately be a three-year transition process. Dockery began talking with the executive committee of Union鈥檚 Board of Trustees in the fall of 2011 about the need to start serious succession planning for the university鈥檚 future, at which the board approved a five-member succession planning team. Dockery said discussions with that team and with other members of the board have taken place regularly since then.
Union trustees will appoint a search committee in the near future and will retain the services of an executive search firm to provide counsel in the transition process. As chancellor, Dockery will continue to serve Union as an adviser for the board and the new president for the next several years.
The search process is expected to take about a year.
鈥淒avid S. Dockery鈥檚 accomplishments at 51社区 are unsurpassed,鈥� said Norman Hill, chairman of Union鈥檚 Board of Trustees. 鈥淎lthough much of his work is visible in the form of buildings and numbers, his greater work is in the hearts and minds of the thousands of students and myriads of others that he and his administration have influenced through the years. He has had Union鈥檚 best interest at heart in everything he has done as president for the past 17 years.
鈥淲ith this decision he is once again taking care of the institution by initiating a transition process at a time that he has deemed appropriate for the institution and his family,鈥� Hill continued. 鈥淲e praise God for David and Lanese Dockery and believe the Lord still has much to accomplish through this beloved couple at 51社区.鈥�
At the time of his transition in 2014, Dockery will have served as Union鈥檚 president for 18 and a half years, approximating the tenure of president Robert E. Craig as the longest in Union鈥檚 history. The list of Dockery鈥檚 accomplishments over that period is lengthy.
Under his leadership, following 15 straight years of enrollment increase, Union has more than doubled in size, growing from a fall enrollment of 1,972 to 4,262 in 2012. Donors have increased from 1,600 to 6,000 annually.
The budget has expanded from $18 million to more than $90 million per year. The university鈥檚 net assets have grown from less than $40 million to more than $110 million.
One of Dockery鈥檚 first priorities upon his election as president in December 1995 was to cast a vision for what 51社区 could become 鈥� a vision that included his desire for Union to reclaim and advance the Christian intellectual tradition. Early in his tenure, the university adopted a set of four core values: Excellence-Driven, Christ-Centered, People-Focused, Future-Directed. Those core values have provided the framework for the work of 51社区 over the past 17 years.
He developed five key strategic plans (for 2001, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2015) that have guided the university鈥檚 work during his tenure.
Dockery鈥檚 administration presided over major development of the Union campus 鈥� including such buildings as White Hall, Jennings Hall, Providence Hall, Hammons Hall, Miller Tower, the Fesmire Field House, Carl Grant Events Center, Bowld Commons and several student housing facilities. Union added campuses in Germantown, Tenn., Hendersonville, Tenn.., and the Olford Center in Memphis during Dockery鈥檚 presidency, and the school鈥檚 athletics program transitioned from NAIA to NCAA Division II candidacy.
Academically under his leadership, Union launched the School of Pharmacy, School of Theology and Missions and the Institute for International and Intercultural Studies, in addition to new undergraduate programs in engineering, social work, graphic design, ethics, political science, athletic training and organizational leadership, among others. The university also began about a dozen master鈥檚 degree programs and five doctoral programs in intercultural studies, theology and missions, education, social work, nursing and pharmacy.
鈥淏y any measure, David Dockery鈥檚 presidency at 51社区 has been the most laudable illustration of leadership success in Christian higher education,鈥� said Greg Thornbury, dean of Union鈥檚 School of Theology and Missions. 鈥淢any will rightly praise him for Union's phenomenal enrollment growth, outstanding academic markers and advances in local, regional and national stature.
鈥淏ut all of this would not be nearly as important had it not been for his vigilant sense for and keen articulation of the university鈥檚 distinctive mission,鈥� Thornbury continued. 鈥淚n my opinion, these characteristics flowed from him being who God gifted him first and foremost to be: a theologian of the first order. By connecting a vision for Union with the great Christian intellectual tradition, he connected the institution he served so ably with something worthy, something noble, something permanent.
鈥淚n an age unfamiliar with the concept, we confess that we are profoundly in David Dockery鈥檚 debt.鈥�
Dockery guided a major institutional rebuilding made necessary by a tornado that struck Union鈥檚 campus on Feb. 5, 2008, causing about $40 million in damage and leveling most of the university鈥檚 student housing. Dozens of students were trapped inside collapsed buildings as rescuers worked for hours to free them. Several sustained serious injuries, but nobody was killed.
鈥淭he first 36 hours were the most challenging 36 hours of my life,鈥� Dockery said about the disaster. 鈥淢y theology about angels and my theology about the providence of God carried me through that first 36 hours. I have a deep sense of God鈥檚 providence. It moved from theoretical to reality. It was all we had to hold onto.鈥�
Though plunged into immediate uncertainty about the university鈥檚 future, Dockery led Union through a rebuilding process in which thousands of donors and volunteers came to Union鈥檚 aid.
鈥淥ut of the rubble across this campus I am praying that we will see renewal,鈥� Dockery said during that time. 鈥淲e lost the buildings, but we did not lose the Union spirit.鈥�
Other achievements by Dockery during his administration include:
-- beginning Union鈥檚 annual Scholarship Banquet, which has brought such influential national and international leaders as George H.W. Bush, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Mikhail Gorbachev, Laura Bush and Colin Powell and raised about $5.5 million for student scholarships.
-- starting the Union Forum luncheon lecture series, with speakers including Fred Barnes, Bill Kristol, Clarence Page, Ross Douthat, Norah O鈥橠onnell, Margaret Carlson, David Brooks, Robert P. George, Stephen Carter and several others.
-- establishment of the Hundley Center, Vocatio Center, Office of Disability Services and Office of Student Success.
-- increasing the graduation rate from 55 percent to 67 percent, which has resulted in more than 13,000 students who have graduated from Union during these years, approximately 65 percent of all living Union alumni.
-- moving from a second-tier ranking in the regional college division of the U.S.News & World Report annual college rankings to a top-tier recognition among the regional universities in the South (Union ranked 14th in the South in 2012).
-- recognition of Union by 鈥淔irst Things鈥� as one of the top 12 Protestant institutions in the country.
-- selection of Union by the 鈥淐hronicle of Higher Education鈥� as one of the best universities to work for in the nation.
-- development of Union鈥檚 mission and identity statements and statement of faith.
A prolific author and editor, Dockery has written or edited several major books on Christian higher education and Baptist history and heritage, including 鈥淩enewing Minds,鈥� 鈥淪haping a Christian Worldview,鈥� 鈥淔aith and Learning,鈥� 鈥淭he Great Tradition of Christian Thinking,鈥� 鈥淪outhern Baptist Consensus and Renewal鈥� and 鈥淪outhern Baptist Identity,鈥� among others.
He served as the chairman of the board for the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, as well as serving on the board for Christianity Today International and Prison Fellowship. Dockery was a member of four recent committees and task force teams in the Southern Baptist Convention, and has spoken at major conferences and lectureships at dozens of churches, state conventions, colleges, churches and seminaries.
Dockery has also been an active participant in local programs and organizations. He was named Jackson鈥檚 Man of the Year in 2008 and was the recipient of the William D. Smart Racial Reconciliation Award from the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 2012.
鈥淲hen I came to Union, Dr. Dockery had already been president for several years and I was surrounded by effects of his leadership 鈥� Union's strong commitment to keeping academic excellence while upholding the Christian faith; a thriving, growing campus; and scholarships to make a solid education available to people from a variety of backgrounds,鈥� said Samantha Adams, a 51社区 senior from Glendale, Ky.
鈥淲hile at Union, I have realized his leadership extends far beyond Union's campus,鈥� Adams added. 鈥淗e has set an example to students for being a peacemaker among Christians, a reconciler between blacks and whites in the South and a humble student of God's word.鈥�
Walton Padelford, longtime university professor of economics, described Dockery鈥檚 leadership as 鈥渆xtraordinary鈥� and said his vision for Union 鈥� including improving Union鈥檚 academic quality, improving theological education and moving the university into the Christian intellectual tradition 鈥� was vital to the university鈥檚 success and growth.
鈥淲hen parents visit me with their prospective students, and we鈥檙e talking about Union, many times I will say that this is the best time for your student to be here,鈥� Padelford said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e living in the golden age of Union.鈥�