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Mohler named one of 40 ‘young leaders’ in poll


LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)–A national higher education
magazine has named R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, one of 40 “Young
Leaders of the Academy.”
“Change” magazine, published by the American
Association for Higher Education, released results of the
national survey of educators and profiled the leaders chosen
in its January-February 1998 issue.
Nominations for “Young Leaders of the Academy” were
sought in a letter sent to 11,000 members of the higher
education community, a full-page advertisement in the
Chronicle of Higher Education journal and through an
Internet web site created for the poll, according to Barry
Munitz and David Breneman, coordinators of The Leadership
Project. The Project conducted the survey.
“Our intention with this ‘Change’ is to rekindle a
national conversation about what is required to respond to leadership challenges in higher education and like organizations over the next 20 years,” Munitz writes.
The survey garnered more than 400 nominees, with an age
criteria set at 45 years of age or less. Although The
Leadership Project was prepared to name 100 young leaders,
organizers found only 40 which met all of their criteria.
“The … profiles surely do not include all the young
leaders of the academy, but this group clearly represents
many of the strongest and the smartest,” magazine editors
noted.
Commenting on the challenges facing higher education,
the magazine quoted Mohler: “Speaking as a Christian
seminary president, the greatest challenge to Christian
higher education is remaining authentically Christian in an
increasingly secular culture. The entire culture of higher
education is increasingly hostile to and dismissive of the
very culture that gave birth to
its central institutions.”
Among the 40 young leaders profiled were administrators
and faculty members from leading secular colleges and
universities, including Harvard University, University of
Pennsylvania and Stanford University, as well as religiously
affiliated institutions like University of Notre Dame and
Brigham Young University. Several other young leaders were
selected from public policy organizations which address
higher education issues.
According to associate editor Lorraine B. Sekera,
Change has a circulation of 13,500 and is targeted to
administrators and faculty members in colleges and
universities in the United States.

    About the Author

  • James A. Smith
  • James A. Smith, Sr.
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