Blaising to step down as executive vice president, provost

Craig Blaising will step back from his administrative post of executive vice president and provost, effective Oct. 1. He will continue at Southwestern as professor of theology and the Jesse Hendley Chair of Biblical Theology. 

Blaising says that although for many years the Lord led him primarily to fulfill administrative responsibilities, the Lord is now leading him to focus on making further contributions to his academic fields. 

“Thankfully, Dr. Blaising will continue to serve the Southwestern family and the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention through his unique giftedness in research, writing and teaching in a more concentrated manner,” says D. Jeffrey Bingham, interim president at Southwestern. “The students of Southwestern Seminary will now have more opportunities to learn from and be mentored by him in the classroom, and students of theology will eagerly anticipate his publications.”

Blaising has served as executive vice president and provost at Southwestern since 2002. During his 17 years of administrative service at the seminary, Blaising oversaw the creation of Scarborough College (formerly the College at Southwestern); the creation and implementation of a flexible-access delivery system for Southwestern’s Ph.D. program; the planning and implementation of smart classroom technology to bring live and recorded lecture content from residential courses to concurrently enrolled online students; and the development of Mandarin-, Spanish- and Korean-language courses to train a generation of pastors in their primary languages. 

“Dr. Blaising has assembled a world-class faculty at Southwestern, instituted rigorous academic standards, and ensured Southwestern’s doctrinal steadfastness,” Bingham says. “ … Dr. Blaising continually ensured that the organization and structure of the Provost’s Office best met the needs of the academic division. He is a godly man, a servant-leader, an exemplary scholar, and a trusted teacher.”

George Klein, professor of Old Testament, will serve as interim chief academic officer of Southwestern Seminary in Blaising’s place. Klein previously served as senior associate dean in the School of Theology at Southwestern (2002–2015), academic dean at Criswell College (1992–1998), and dean of graduate studies at Criswell College (1989–1992). 

Klein will oversee the entire academic division at Southwestern, including the associate vice president for academic assessment and technology, the associate vice president for institutional research and assessment/registrar, the assistant vice president of academic administration, the administrative staff of the office of the interim chief academic officer, and the deans and directors of the academic division. Klein will also serve as the cabinet representative for the academic division.