Rosell Scholars - Gordon Conwell

The purpose of the Rosell Scholars Program is the identification, support and preparation of students that God may be calling to teaching careers in higher education.

Responding to God’s Call to Higher Education

From its earliest years, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary has considered the training of college, university and seminary professors as among its most important priorities.

The results have been heartening! Across the seminary’s history, many of our graduates have gone on for doctorates and entered the academy–and scores of former students are now teaching in colleges, universities and seminaries around the world.

Until now, however, the seminary has not been able to offer a specific program to help our students in their preparation for a lifetime of teaching.

Now, however, through the gift of a generous donor, this new program with its rigorous, hands-on training for aspiring professors has been established to help facilitate a more thorough preparation for those whom God may be calling to teach.

Overview

Program Description

The Rosell Scholars Program

“The ideal college,” President James A. Garfield famously remarked in 1871, “is Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and a student on the other.”[1]  What was true then remains true today.  While comfy dormitories, beautifully landscaped campuses and winning sports teams are attractive features; the very essence of good education remains primarily a gifted and well-trained teacher and a bright and diligent student.

This kind of intimate, rigorous and face-to-face education is needed more than ever within institutions that are providing graduate theological education.  By their very nature, in fact, seminaries ought to be the most demanding training centers in all of higher education since they are tasked with preparing leadership for those who love and serve the King of Kings.

Such need, it would seem, is even greater with respect to the identification, training and intellectual development of teachers for higher education.   Since its founding in 1969, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary has placed special emphasis upon the identification and preparation of gifted evangelical students for future teaching opportunities at colleges, universities, Bible schools, institutes and seminaries around the world.  In recent years, approximately 5% of Gordon-Conwell graduates have sensed God’s call into higher education and many have successfully completed doctoral programs and have secured appointments in fine educational institutions around the globe.  Some have even become active leaders within their academic guilds.

The founders of our seminary envisioned an institution that (among its various tasks) would actively prepare teachers for higher education.  “Harold John Ockenga,” as historian Mark Noll reminds us in his bestselling book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, “called for a ‘new evangelicalism’ that would value scholarship and take an active interest in society while maintaining traditional Protestant orthodoxy.”[2]  Billy Graham, the cofounder (with Harold John Ockenga) of our seminary, “played a surprisingly large role in promoting the intellectual enlightenment of evangelicalism,” Noll continued, “through his willingness to provide “the evangelical equivalent of an imprimatur for serious intellectual work.”[3]

Ockenga and Graham, moreover, specifically chose to establish the seminary near Boston since they believed that “the Athens of America,” as they believed Boston to be, provided the richest intellectual resources for teachers and students alike.  Although there are approximately 270 ATS accredited seminaries in the United States and Canada, only a handful of them are realistically blessed with sufficient size, faculty and library resources for the preparation of teachers for institutions of higher education.  Our seminary, thanks to the wisdom of our founders, is one of them!  Consequently, it has been central to our seminary’s mission from the very beginning to give attention to the preparation of teachers in higher education.

Such training is both expensive and labor intensive!  Tasked with a wide array of educational expectations, seminary budgets are simply unable to properly fund the kinds of programs that provide the time and resources for gifted teachers to work face to face, on a regular schedule, with those students who have sensed God’s call to teach.  But there is hope!  The Rosell Scholars Program, detailed below, is designed precisely to meet this need.


The Program

During each of the program’s five years, nine professors and nine students will meet weekly, one-on-one, for one-hour conversations on topics designated within a carefully designed curriculum.  Once each month, all eighteen participants in the program will gather in community with the Program Director for three additional hours to discuss their work, to interact with presenters and to evaluate their progress.

Participation by faculty mentors is completely voluntary and by invitation only.  The nine faculty members will be appointed each year by the seminary president upon recommendation of the Program Director.  Faculty members are encouraged to make the Program Director aware of their interest should they wish to do so.

Each faculty mentor (in consultation with the Program Director) will be responsible to select one gifted student who in their professional judgment has the intellectual ability, the personal character and a clear sense of the call of God to pursue doctoral studies.  Each student selected will receive a scholarship of $10,000 for their participation during the academic year of their appointment.  Since discussions are always enhanced by the presence of as broad a range of voices as possible, faculty mentors are strongly encouraged to keep the needs of the global church in mind as they make their selection.


Program Design

The primary purpose of the Rosell Scholars Program is the identification and preparation of teachers for higher education.  Students selected for the program, at the request of the donors, will be known as “The Rosell Scholars” and the $10,000 scholarships they receive, again at the request of the donors, will be known as “The Rosell Scholarships.”  No student is allowed to be in the program for more than a single academic year.


Student Requirements

During their year of participation, each “Rosell Scholar” is expected to complete the following tasks:  (1) Two sessions of actual classroom teaching in courses overseen by their mentor; (2) One course taken in a Boston Theological Institute member school; (3) A “Student Membership” in at least one professional society representing their selected field of academic study; (4) Attendance at one professional society meeting (such as the ETS, AAR/SBL, ASCH, etc.) related to their chosen field of study; (5) The completion of at least one methodology course (i.e. Historiography) related to their chosen field of study; (6) The reading of ten key books in their chosen field of study as assigned by their mentor; and (7) The selection and design, in consultation with their mentor, of a possible future doctoral thesis topic in the student’s chosen field of study including a bibliography of primary and secondary sources on which such a study could be based.


[1] James A. Garfield, a student at Williams College and subsequently President of the United States, is reported to have made the comment in December of 1871 at a New York meeting of the Williams alumni.  Mark Hopkins served as President of Williams College from 1836 to 1872 and was one of Garfield’s mentors.  See Frederick Rudolph, Mark Hopkins and the Log (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1956), p. vii.

[2] Mark Noll, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994), pp. 213-214.  For an earlier version see Noll’s essay in Garth M. Rosell, The Evangelical Landscape: Essays on the American Evangelical Tradition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1996), pp. 13-40.

[3] Noll, Scandal, p. 214.

Selection of Students for the Program

This scholarship is by invitation only.  Students who are interested in being considered for the program, however, are encouraged to communicate that interest to the program directors.  Selections are normally made during the spring semester.

Benefits for Scholars

  • Opportunities to engage in classroom teaching
  • Weekly meetings with your faculty mentor
  • Monthly meetings with colleagues in the program
  • A curriculum designed to prepare you for a career in teaching
  • A generous scholarship of $10,000
  • Interactions with other scholars in the academy
  • Participation in professional society meetings and the Boston Theological Institute
  • Guidance in preparing your application for admission to doctoral studies
  • Engagement with your mentor in reading, research and writing
  • Discussions on methodology in your chosen field of study

Benefits for Faculty Members

  • Opportunity to mentor the next generation of university, college and seminary professors
  • Weekly meetings with your Rosell Scholar
  • Monthly meetings with colleagues in the program
  • Opportunity to select a deserving student to mentor
  • A generous stipend
  • Interactions with other scholars in the academy
  • Engagement with your student in discussion of reading, research and writing
  • Development of professional friendships
  • Opportunity to share your vision, expertise and wisdom

Leadership

Dr Gwenfair Adams

Dr Gwenfair Adams

Professor of Church History

Chair, Division of Christian Thought
Director, Rosell Scholars Program

Rosell Faculty Mentors

2021–2022 Academic Year

Dr. Jeffrey Arthurs

Robinson Chair of Preaching & Communication, Director of the Haddon W. Robinson Center for Preaching

Dr. Eun Ah Cho

Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies, Dean of Gordon-Conwell Institute

Dr. Dave Currie

Dean of the Doctor of Ministry Program, Dean of the Anglican Formation Program, Professor of Pastoral Theology

Dr. Brad Howell

Adjunct Faculty, Vice President of Graduate Programs

Dr. Scott W. Sunquist

President and Professor of Missiology

Dr. Virginia Ward

Dean of the Boston Campus, Assistant Professor of Youth and Leadership

Dr. Gerry Wheaton

Dean of Networked Education, Associate Professor of New Testament

Dr. Mateus de Campos

Associate Professor of New Testament, Dean of the Hamilton Campus

Dr. Alvin Padilla

Dean of the Latino and Global Ministries program (LGM), Professor of New Testament

Dr. Carol Kaminski

Senior Professor of Old Testament

Dr. Sean McDonough

Professor of New Testament

Dr. Seong Hyun Park

Provost and Assistant Professor of Old Testament

Dr. Donna Petter

Associate Professor of Old Testament, Director of the Hebrew Language Program

Dr. Thomas Petter

Senior Professor of Old Testament

Dr. Eckhard J. Schnabel

Mary French Rockefeller Distinguished Professor of New Testament

Dr. Gwenfair Walters Adams

Professor of Church History and Spiritual Formation

Dr. John Jefferson Davis

Senior Professor of Systematic Theology and Christian Ethics

Dr. Brent H. Burdick

Adjunct Professor of Missions

Dr. Gordon Isaac

Berkshire Professor of Church History and Advent Christian Studies

Dr. Todd Johnson

Eva B. and Paul E. Toms Distinguished Professor of Mission and Global Christianity

Dr. Adonis Vidu

Andrew Mutch Distinguished Professor of Theology

Dr. Kevin Xiyi Yao

Professor of World Christianity and Asian Studies

Dr. Kenneth Barnes

Mockler-Phillips Professor of Workplace Theology and Business Ethics

Mr. Daniel Montañez

Adjunct Instructor, Latino & Global Ministries Program

Mr. Jahdiel Perez

Adjunct Instructor

Mrs. Lucrecia RodrĂ­guez-Lynch

Adjunct Instructor, Latino & Global Ministries Program

Dr. Angie H. Kim

Assistant Professor of Counseling

Dr. Karen Mason

Professor of Counseling and Psychology, Director of the Hamilton Counseling Department

Dr. Jim Singleton, Jr.

Senior Professor of Ministry

Dr. Quonekuia Day

Assistant Professor of Old Testament

Dr. E. Carolina Benitez

Assistant Professor of Counseling

Dr. Christopher A. Cook

Assistant Professor of Counseling

Dr. Rodney Cooper

Senior Professor of Ministry

Dr. Pam Davis

Associate Professor of Counseling, Director of the Counseling Department at Charlotte

Dr. Donald Fairbairn

Robert E. Cooley Professor of Early Christianity

Dr. Vickey Maclin

Associate Professor of Counseling

Dr. Nicole Martin

Adjunct Professor of Ministry and Leadership Development

Dr. Robert Mayer

Senior Professor of Church History

Dr. Catherine McDowell

Associate Professor of Old Testament

Mr. Dean Borgman

Emeritus Professor of Youth Ministry

Dr. Dennis Hollinger

Colman M. Mockler Distinguished Professor of Christian Ethics

Dr. Gordon Hugenberger

Senior Professor of Old Testament

Dr. Edward Keazirian

Senior Professor of Greek and New Testament, Director of the Greek Language Program

Dr. Peter Kuzmic

Senior Distinguished Professor of World Missions and European Studies

Dr. Richard Lints

Senior Distinguished Professor of Theology

Dr. Jeffrey J. Niehaus

Senior Professor of Old Testament

Dr. Pablo Polischuk

Senior Professor of Pastoral Counseling & Psychology

Dr. Garth Rosell

Senior Research Professor of Church History

Dr. Aída Besançon Spencer

Senior Professor of New Testament

Dr. Douglas Stuart

Senior Professor of Old Testament

Dr. Eldin Villafane

Distinguished Professor of Christian Social Ethics, Emeritus

Dr. Tim Laniak

Senior Professor of Biblical Studies

Dr. Patricia Batten

Assistant Professor of Preaching, Associate Director of the Haddon W. Robinson Center for Preaching, Chapel Advisor

Dr. Katherine Horvath

Assistant Professor of Practical Theology

Dr. Gina A. Zurlo

Adjunct Faculty of World Christianity and Mission, Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity

Dr. Christine Palmer

Adjunct Professor of Old Testament

Dr. David Palmer

Adjunct Professor of New Testament

Dr. Justin M. Young

Assistant Dean of Networked Education, Adjunct Professor of Old Testament

Dr. Annette Wright

Adjunct Professor

Dr. Carlot D. Celestin

Adjunct Professor of Counseling

Dr. Mandy Baraka

Adjunct Professor of Counseling

Dr. Morgan Enright

Visiting Assistant Professor of Counseling

Dr. Kelly Breen Boyce

Adjunct Professor of Counseling

Dr. Daniel Reyes

Adjunct Professor of Counseling

Dr. David A. Escobar Arcay

Adjunct Professor of Theology and Christian Thought

Dr. Erin Crider

Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology, Director of Church Planting.

Dr. J. Anthony Lloyd

Adjunct Professor

Mr. Jeff Bass

Adjunct Professor

Dr. Jim Critchlow

Assistant Professor of Biblical Languages

Dr. Jimmy Long

Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology

Dr. Justin S. Holcomb

Adjunct Professor of Christian Thought

Dr. Laura Miguélez Quay

Adjunct Professor of Christian Thought and Greek

Dr. Mark A. Jennings

Adjunct Professor of New Testament

Dr. Ryan Jackson

Adjunct Professor

Dr. Phillip R. Thorne

Co-Mentor (DMin)

Dr. Ronald J. Bouthillette

Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology

Dr. Stephen Witmer

Adjunct Professor of New Testament

Dr. Thomas Price

Adjunct Professor of Christian Thought

Dr. Viacheslav V. Lytvynenko

Adjunct Professor of Theology and Christian Thought

Dr. Eliezer Victor Ramos

Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology

Dr. Jana Holiday

Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology

Dr. Lindsay McMillan

Co-Mentor (DMin)

Dr. Wes Vander Lugt

Adjunct Professor of Theology and Acting Director of the Leighton Ford Initiative in Theology, the Arts, and Gospel Witness

Dr. Luiz Sayao

Adjunct Professor of Biblical Studies

Dr. Mary Ho

Co-Mentor (DMin)

Dr. Michael Moses

Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology

Dr. Claude Alexander

Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology

Dr. Nick Gatzke

Co-Mentor (DMin)

Dr. Timothy Beougher

Co-Mentor (DMin)

Dr. Tom Herrick

Co-Mentor (DMin)

Dr. Awilda Gonzalez-Babb

Adjunct Professor of Biblical Studies

Dr. Jenny John

Instructor of Counseling

Dr. Autumn Ridenour

Mockler Associate Professor of Christian Ethics

Dr. William Spencer

Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Theology and the Arts

Dr. Steve Macchia

Adjunct Professor

Dr. Paul Hoffman

Adjunct Professor

Dr. Christian Cuthbert

Adjunct Professor

Dr. Ray Pendleton

Senior Professor of Pastoral Counseling and Psychology

Dr. Victor Price

Adjunct Professor

Dr. David Wright

Adjunct Professor

Dr. Mark Arnold

Adjunct Professor

Sean Watkins

Adjunct Professor

Dr. Ray Hammond

Adjunct Professor

Dr. Paul Biswas

Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology

Benjamin Espinoza

Adjunct Professor of Church and Culture

Dr. Davi C. Ribeiro Lin

Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology and Ministry

Dr. Fred Foy Strang

Adjunct Professor of Christian Thought

Dr. Ruy Costa

Adjunct Professor of Christian Social Ethics

Kara Martin

Adjunct Professor

Dr. Nicholas Rowe

Kenneth and Jean Hansen Associate Professor of Leadership

Dr. Doug Carver

Faculty Mentor for the Pastoral Theology in Practice

Dr. Ingo Tophoven

Assistant Professor of Counseling

Dr. Herb Rhedrick

Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology

Dr. Chuck Colson

Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology

Dr. Sarah Lebhar Hall

Adjunct Professor of Biblical Studies

Dr. Jason R. McConnell

Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology and Co-Mentor (DMin)

Dr. David Horn

Co-Mentor (DMin)

Dr. Tsu-Kung Chuang

Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology (LGM), Co-Mentor (DMin)

Dr. William Barnett

Co-Mentor (DMin)

Dr. Calvin W. Choi

Co-Mentor (DMin)

Dr. Peter G. James

Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology

Dr. David "Duffy" Robbins

Co-Mentor (DMin)

Neil Binette

Adjunct Professor of Counseling

Cynthia Fisher

Adjunct Professor of Counseling

Dr. Benjamin Grant White

Adjunct Professor of New Testament

Dr. Walt Mueller

Co-Mentor (DMin)

Dr. Roy Ciampa

Adjunct Professor of Biblical Studies, Co-Mentor (DMin)

Have Questions?

Someone from our friendly admissions team would be happy to reach out to you.