(Source: ETBU)

MARSHALL, Texas (10/15/08)- The East Texas Baptist University Board of Trustees elected Dr. Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver of Waco, Texas, as its next president. The announcement came from ETBU Board of Trustees chair Hal Cornish after a special called trustee meeting Wednesday afternoon. Dr. Oliver will succeed current president Dr. Bob E. Riley who is retiring effective July 16, 2009 after 17 years at the helm.

Dr. Oliver currently serves as the Vice President for Student Life at Baylor University. He has served in various positions and has been employed at Baylor for 16 years. Dr. Oliver will join ETBU as its 12th president effective June 1, 2009.

“After an extensive nation-wide search, Dr. Dub Oliver comes to ETBU very highly recommended to lead this university as its next President,” said Cornish, who also served as the chair of the Presidential Search Committee. “His credentials as a senior administrator are very extensive and impressive. In his current position, he is responsible for over 14,000 students and supervises a staff of over 500 people.”

“Dr. Oliver has responsibility of what is normally referred to as Student Services plus Spiritual life and is also in charge of the Baylor University Health Center which provides medical care to students attending Baylor,” added Cornish.

“Susie and I are humbled and excited to have this opportunity to serve at East Texas Baptist University,” said Dr. Oliver. “We’re thankful for the Presidential Search Committee, the Board of Trustees, President Bob and Gayle Riley, and the ETBU family who have been so welcoming and encouraging to us.”

A native of San Antonio, Texas, Oliver is a graduate of Baylor University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education. He holds a Master of Science degree in Educational Psychology from Texas A&M University. Oliver earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Administration from Texas A & M as well. He is also a licensed and ordained Baptist minister having served since October 2003 as the pastor of Canaan Baptist Church of Crawford, Texas.

Dr. Oliver came to Baylor in April 1992 from Texas A& M University, to serve as Director of Student Activities. In June 1999, he took on additional responsibilities as the Associate Dean for Campus Life. Then in June 2001, Dr. Oliver was promoted to be the Dean for Student Development, a post he held until June 2005 when he was named Assistant Vice President for Student Life. For a year he served as Interim Vice President for Student Life before being named the Vice President for Student Life. Oliver has also served Baylor as a Visiting Professor in the Hankamer School of Business, an Adjunct Professor in the School of Education, and Interim University Chaplain. He served in the United States Air Force stationed at Carswell Air Force Base in the late 1980’s. Before entering graduate school, he was a third grade teacher in the Fort Worth Independent School District.

Dr. Oliver’s wife, Susie, is currently an adjunct faculty member and full-time cheerleader coach at Baylor. She and Dr. Oliver have a daughter, Callie, who is a junior in high school.

“Dr. Oliver comes very highly recommended by the Provost of Baylor, Dr. Randall O’Brien, who has recently been named President of Carson-Newman College,” said Cornish. “We believe Dr. Oliver will be the ideal person to lead an already outstanding Christian university into the 21st century.”

“Gayle and I have had a wonderful experience at ETBU and we are going to miss the people we have worked with very much,” said Dr. Riley. “God has been good to us this past 16 ½ years and we believe it is time for a new vision. Gayle and I look forward to assisting Dr. and Mrs. Oliver in their transition to ETBU.”

“East Texas Baptist University, near the conclusion of its first century of service and at the beginning of a new century of faithfulness, is well positioned for increased excellence in all its endeavors. In doing so, the University will, by God’s grace, become an even brighter light on the hill to a world that is desperately in need,” said Dr. Oliver.

Chartered in 1912, ETBU is a four year Christian liberal arts university accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, National Association of Schools of Music, Commission of Collegiate Nursing Education and the Board of Nurse Examiners for the State of Texas. ETBU provides for its students, faculty and staff “A World of Opportunity in a Community of Faith.”

-ETBU-