Inauguration of President John Wesley Taylor V

On Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023

President John Wesley Taylor V (Photo by Darren Heslop)

The inauguration of the seventh president of Andrews University, John Wesley Taylor V, will occur on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. in the Pioneer Memorial Church sanctuary. All faculty, staff, students and other friends of the University, as well as those who have been invited as official delegates and special guests, are welcome to attend the service.

For those unable to attend in person, the Ceremony of Inauguration will also be livestreamed at dctdsj.com/livestream on Oct. 24, beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The guest speaker for the event is Dwight K. Nelson, a fifth generation Adventist and fourth generation preacher, who served for 50 years as a pastor in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Forty of those years, from 1983–2023, were spent in one location, Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of Andrews University. Nelson is a globally recognized speaker and author of more than a dozen books. Both he and President Taylor earned doctoral degrees from Andrews University in 1986—a Doctor of Ministry and PhD in curriculum and instruction, respectively.

Taylor became president of Andrews University on July 1, 2023, following the retirement of Andrea Luxton, sixth president of Andrews University. The inauguration will give the institution an opportunity to formally recognize the president in his new role, reaffirm historic commitments, rally the academic community around the president and heighten institutional visibility.

Taylor was born in Puerto Rico and has served as teacher and administrator at elementary through graduate levels in a dozen different countries. Prior to joining Andrews University as its president, Taylor served as an associate director of Education at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, editor of College and University Dialogue, chair of the board for The Journal of Adventist Education, and executive secretary of the Adventist Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges, and Universities.

He has served as a professor and dean of the School of Education & Psychology at Southern Adventist University; professor, associate dean and director of doctoral programs and administrator of the Division of Online Learning at the School of Graduate Studies at the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies in the Philippines; and a professor and founding dean of the Division of Graduate Studies at Montemorelos University in Mexico.

Taylor says, “Here at Andrews University, we are inspired by mission, and we are committed to mission—to the mission of our University, to the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and to the gospel commission that God has given to us and which inspires all of our journeys forward. By God’s grace, I endeavor to lead with empathy and compassion, with a clear sense of purpose and with integrity.”

A public Presidential Tree Planting ceremony will also take place on Tuesday, Oct. 24, at 2:30 p.m. on the main campus near Buller Hall. The concept of commemorative president’s trees was begun by Dennis Woodland in 1994 at the inauguration of Niels-Erik Andreasen.