Southern President Mohler Elected to Historic Chair
The board of trustees of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) elected Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. to a special chair that commends those who have made significant marks in the seminary's history.
The April 26 elevation to the historic Joseph Emerson Brown Chair of Christian Theology places Mohler next to the seminary's founder, President James Pettigru Boyce, and President E.Y. Mullins who served from 1899 to 1928.
"It is an historic chair in systematic theology and we believe an historic president like Dr. Mohler deserves to be teaching from this chair," said Russell D. Moore, dean of the School of Theology and senior vice president for academic administration, according to the seminary's Towers Online report. "This will be a great and momentous act in Southern Seminary."
The chair is named in honor of Joseph Emerson Brown, who served two terms as governor of Georgia during the Civil War and played a critical role in keeping Southern Seminary from closing on two separate occasions. As a seminary trustee, Brown came to the seminary’s rescue during Reconstruction in the 1870s with a donation of $50,000, according to Towers. This kept the seminary doors open even during the Great Depression in the late 1920s.
"This means more than I can say," Mohler said. "Especially with Dr. Boyce and Dr. Mullins holding that chair during their presidencies, it is an historical connection that speaks to my heart and to the sense of calling.
"It also is a reminder that the Lord has used significant individuals [such as Brown] to make this institution what it is. Some of these names are inscribed on buildings, some are memorialized in scholarship and professorships, and it is easy for us to forget what they meant and who they were."
