The Oakwood University board yesterday selected Loma Linda University Vice President of Diversity Leslie N. Pollard to serve as its president, a university statement said.
Pollard replaces Delbert W. Baker, who was elected in June as one of nine vice presidents of the Seventh-day Adventist world church. Oakwood, an institution in Huntsville, Alabama, historically serving African Americans, is directly affiliated with the denomination's world headquarters.
University provost Mervyn Warren has served as interim president since August.
Pollard, 54, earned a bachelor's degree from Oakwood and a Master's of Divinity degree from the Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University in Berrien, Springs, Michigan. He also holds a Doctor of Ministry degree in preaching and worship from the Claremont School of Theology in Claremont, California, a Ph.D in New Testament Language and Literature from Andrews, as well as an M.B.A. from the La Sierra University School of Business in Riverside, California.
Pollard has served as a senior pastor, a youth pastor, a university chaplain, a healthcare program administrator, and an educational administrator at LLU. He regularly leads leadership conferences worldwide. He and his wife, Prudence, have two daughters, both graduates of Oakwood.
Pollard will become the 13th president of the institution since it was established in 1896 as Oakwood Industrial School. He will assume his new post January 3.