Terry, Wilder complete interim leadership team at Southwestern Seminary

Jack D. Terry Jr. and Michael S. Wilder have been appointed interim vice president for institutional advancement and interim vice president for strategic and academic initiatives, respectively of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Interim President David S. Dockery announced today. Terry and Wilder will join Matt Queen, interim provost, and Michele Smith, interim vice president for financial services, who were announced on Oct. 18, to complete the Fort Worth institution’s interim leadership team.

“The interim leadership team will bring their years of experience, their expertise, and their many good gifts to provide the kind of shared leadership that is needed by the seminary community during this interim period,” Dockery said. “It will be a joy to join with Dr. O.S. Hawkins in serving with this dedicated group of leaders as we work together to advance the Southwestern mission for the days to come.” Hawkins is senior advisor and ambassador-at-large for the seminary.

Jack D. Terry has been appointed Interim Vice President for Institutional Advancement

Terry has been associated with Southwestern Seminary since the late 1950s when he began as a student.

“Jack Terry, who has served Southwestern in almost every way possible over the decades, has once again answered the call to serve the Southwestern community during these strategic days,” Dockery said. “It is hard to think of anyone who has influenced Southwestern more over the recent decades than Jack Terry.”

Terry, who was elected to the faculty in 1969, served as the dean of the then School of Religious Education, 1974-1995, when he was named vice president for institutional advancement under Kenneth S. Hemphill, Southwestern Seminary’s seventh president.

With Terry’s support, the School of Religious Education was renamed the School of Educational Ministries in 1998. Upon his retirement as vice president in 2006, Terry was named vice president emeritus for institutional advancement, and he currently serves as a senior professor of foundations of education in the Terry School. A revised and expanded edition of Terry’s history of the School of Educational Ministries, Christian Education on the Plains of Texas, was released by Seminary Hill Press in 2021 in conjunction with the centennial anniversary of the first school of religious education in the academic world. Terry and his wife, Barbara, were honored with the Jack D. and Barbara Terry Chair for Religious Education in 2007.

Terry is a two-time graduate of Southwestern Seminary, having earned a Master of Religious Education in 1962 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1994. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts from East Texas Baptist University.

Michael Wilder has been appointed Interim Vice President for Strategic and Academic Initiatives

In his new role, Wilder will oversee enrollment, online learning, educational innovation, and campus technology. He was named associate provost for innovative learning in June after serving as the dean of the Terry School since 2019.

“We have previously announced our intention to prioritize enrollment and new initiatives and this appointment is a way of giving shape and direction to this priority,” Dockery said of Wilder’s appointment. “Drawing on the Southwestern heritage that has pioneered new programs in evangelism, Christian education, and church music, Dr. Wilder, as the institution’s chief catalyst officer, will help lead the Southwestern community to find new areas of growth potential in the days to come.”

Wilder joined the faculty of Southwestern Seminary in 2019 after serving as associate vice president for doctoral studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Christian education and leadership from Southern Seminary. He also earned a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Business Administration in management from Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia. Wilder has additional teaching experience at New Orleans Seminary.

Wilder will maintain his role as professor of educational ministries in the Terry School.

Terry and Wilder’s appointments are effective immediately.