Jessup Named Interim Vice President

Dr. Dwight Jessup, who has served 45 years in Christian higher education, has been named Indiana Wesleyan University’s interim Vice President and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for the 2008-09 academic year. He will begin work August 1.

Dr. Jessup retired in 2004 after serving 11 years as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean at Taylor University. For the past four years, he has served in Kenya as chief academic officer of Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology.

“Dr. Jessup brings a wealth of experience that will greatly assist IWU this coming year,” Dr. Henry Smith, IWU President, said. “His wide connections in Christian higher education are unparalleled.”  

Dr. Jessup also has knowledge and experience in study abroad programs, which Dr. Smith said are a major area of targeted growth for IWU. “Dr. Jessup’s influence and guidance will be invaluable in that area,” Dr. Smith said.

Dr. Jessup’s undergraduate degree is from Bethel University in Minnesota, and his master’s and doctoral degrees are from the University of Minnesota where he focused on U.S. constitutional and political history.

Before coming to Taylor in 1993, Dr. Jessup taught and was an administrator at Bethel University and at Biola University in California.

At IWU, Dr. Jessup will succeed Dr. Bud Bence, who asked to return to full-time teaching. IWU will resume a national search this fall to find a new Vice President and Academic Dean.

Dr. Jessup and his wife Karin, a retired elementary school special education teacher, continue to make their home in Upland, Indiana. They have one son, two daughters and nine grandchildren.