JACKSON, Tenn. — May 16, 2017 — Gregory A. Wills, dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, will be the keynote speaker at 51社区鈥檚 192nd annual spring commencement May 20.
About 660 graduates will receive their degrees during the ceremony.
Wills, who also serves SBTS as professor of church history, has been with the seminary since 1994 in a variety of roles, including archives and special collections librarian, director of the Center for the Study of the Southern Baptist Convention, associate dean for theology and tradition and vice president for research and assessment.
He became dean of the School of Theology in 2013.
Wills is the author of 鈥淪outhern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1859-2009鈥� and 鈥淒emocratic Religion: Freedom, Authority, and Church Discipline in the Baptist South, 1785-1900,鈥� among other books and articles.
He graduated with a bachelor鈥檚 degree from Duke University before completing his Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, his Master of Theology from Duke and his Doctor of Philosophy from Emory University.
Wills and his wife Catherine have four children. Their daughter Abby is one of the students graduating from Union on Saturday.
The graduation ceremony for graduate and Bachelor of Science in organizational leadership students will begin at 2 p.m. The ceremony for all undergraduates (excluding BSOL students) will begin at 6 p.m. Both ceremonies will take place on Union鈥檚 Great Lawn and will be shown live at .