Gordon College has selected Michael Lindsay, assistant professor of sociology at Rice University, as its next president. Lindsay will begin on July 1 at the Christian liberal arts college in Wenham, Massachusetts.
At age 39, Lindsay will join a younger cohort of leaders for Christian institutions. For instance, Philip Ryken, who became president of Wheaton College last year, is 44 and Dinesh D’Souza, president of The King’s College, is 49.
Lindsay finished his undergraduate degree from Baylor University, completed a master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and received a Ph.D. from Princeton in 2006. He is completing a study is based on interviews with over 500 leaders in the U.S.
Lindsay is author of Faith in the Halls of Power, which documented evangelicals in high-profile leadership positions in politics, media, education, and business. (See Christianity Today‘s earlier review. The book won first place in the Christianity and Culture category in CT’s annual Book Awards).
CT senior writer Tim Stafford interviewed Lindsay about the book in the November 2007 issue of CT.
Last fall, Gordon’s current president R. Judson Carlberg announced his retirement. Timothy Dalrymple has posted a new interview with Lindsay at Patheos.
Ties between Gordon and CT include the following: Former Christianity Today CEO Harold Myra continues to serve on Gordon’s board; CT deputy managing editor Tim Morgan is an alumnus (’78); former CT associate editor Wendy Murray has served as an adjunct professor of communication arts; and prominent Boston pastor Harold John Ockenga was president of Gordon from 1969 to 1979 while serving as the founding board chair of Christianity Today (1956 to 1981).
A prolific author with about two dozen publication credits, Lindsay wrote the following articles for CT and sister publication Books and Culture:
The Engine of the Market | It’s not capital. Why wealthy evangelicals and others need to reconsider executive compensation.
Changing of the Guard | What happens to the Religious Right?
Beyond Platitudes | A model for civic leadership that takes religious pluralism seriously.
The Sociological Two-Way Mirror | Pierre Bourdieu’s legacy.