Bob Jones University President Steve Pettit today announced the appointment of Dr. Alan Benson as executive vice president for student development and ministry advancement. Benson has served at BJU since July 2018, as vice president for student development and discipleship.
Benson has made significant contributions to transforming the student experience from the student life perspective and is now working with Dr. Gary Weier, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, to fulfill the strategic plan goal of focusing on student success—which involves all aspects of the student experience from academics through extracurriculars and residence hall living.
“In the seven years I have served as president, we have been intentionally positioning and preparing for the day when we could have everyone involved with ministry training on the same page,” said President Pettit. “We are now at that point, and with his 25 years of experience as a senior pastor, Benson is the right man to lead the charge.”
While Benson will continue his role with student development, his role is being expanded to include oversight of the BJU Seminary. He will also direct ministerial training of men to provide complete alignment in our undergraduate and graduate programs. In making this transition, Benson has assembled a ministry advancement leadership team of six key faculty and staff to accomplish the goals of the program.
“This new role presents both challenges and opportunities,” said Benson. “I appreciate the incredible foundation Dr. Sam Horn provided at both BJU Seminary and the School of Religion to continually elevate ministerial training and look forward to working with our ministry leadership team to accomplish much for the Gospel.”
As part of the transition to his new role, Benson will be announcing several initiatives as part of the BJU Seminary strategic plan early next week.
For over two decades, Benson has served as a youth pastor and senior pastor in Florida, North Carolina, and Illinois.
He earned a BA in Bible at Bob Jones University in 1992, an MMin from BJU in 2009, an MDiv from Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary in 2011 and a DMin from BJU in 2020.
Benson and his wife, Michelle, reside in Greenville and have four daughters and one granddaughter.
