Seminary adds 10 faculty members, including 1st native of Mexico

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary elected eight new faculty members, including the first-ever native of Mexico, during their April 6 meeting.

Six were elected to positions in the theology and educational ministries schools at the Fort Worth, Texas, campus and two were elected to Southwestern Seminary’s J. Dalton Havard School for Theological Studies in Houston.

President Paige Patterson also appointed two faculty members to the school of theology.

Octavio Esqueda, a native of Mexico, was elected assistant professor of administration and foundations of education in the school of educational ministries. He holds a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of North Texas in Denton, a master’s degree from Dallas Theological Seminary, a licencitura in Spanish literature (Bachelor of Arts) and diploma in religion and society from the University of Guadalajara in Guadalajara, Mexico, and a diploma of journalism from the Public Department of Education in Guadalajara.

Esqueda has held teaching positions at the Howard Center for Christian Studies in Dallas and at the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO) in Guadalajara. He has preached and taught in a number of churches in Mexico, the United States and Cuba.

“Dr. Esqueda is an excellent young man,” said Robert Welch, the newly elected dean of the school of educational ministries. “He has been team-teaching this semester. The feedback from both the professors and students has been very good.”

Also elected to the faculty were:

-- Michael Wilson as associate professor of pastoral ministry in the school of theology. Wilson comes to Southwestern from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo., where he was vice president for institutional advancement and professor of practical theology and leadership.

Wilson holds a Doctor of Education degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., a Master of Divinity from Southwestern and a Bachelor of Science degree from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. He has been director of evangelism for various state organizations and has served as a senior pastor, minister of evangelism, interim pastor and youth pastor during his career. Wilson has been serving under presidential appointment at Southwestern for the past year.

-- Paul Hoskins as assistant professor of New Testament in the school of theology. Hoskins received his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill. He has two master’s degrees from Southern Seminary and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

Most recently Hoskins served as a professor of New Testament and instructor in Greek at Trinity. He has also been a teaching fellow and an English teacher for Russian pastors at Southern Seminary. He has been an occasional preacher for various churches both in the United States and Poland.

-- John Mark Yeats as assistant professor of church history in the school of theology. Yeats has taught at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee and adjunctively at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Ill. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in historical theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Yeats has master’s degrees from Southern Seminary and the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. He has served on the staff of churches in Texas, Illinois and Indiana. Yeats is the coauthored of the “Church History Chart Book.”

-- Steven Smith as assistant professor of preaching in the school of theology. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., a Master of Divinity degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., and a Bachelor of Science degree from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. Prior to his election to the faculty at Southwestern, he had been senior pastor of Salem Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., for eight years.

-- John D. Laing as assistant professor of systematic theology and philosophy for the J. Dalton Havard School for Theological Studies in Houston. A native of Quebec, Canada, Laing holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Southern Seminary, a Master of Divinity with biblical languages degree from Southeastern Seminary and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Most recently, Laing served as an adjunct professor at Southern Seminary and Boyce College and Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky., and the Baptist College of Florida in Graceville.

-- James M. Hamilton Jr. as assistant professor of biblical studies for the Havard School for Theological Studies. Hamilton holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Southern Seminary, a Master of Theology degree from Dallas Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark.

He was licensed to preach by First Baptist Church in Dallas in 2000 and has served in a number of youth ministry positions. Prior to his appointment to the faculty of the Havard School, Hamilton served as a teaching fellow at Southern Seminary.

He has published articles in a number of scholarly journals including Westminster Theological Journal and Trinity Journal. He has a book manuscript awaiting publication titled, “The Holy Spirit and Old Covenant Believers: Regeneration and Indwelling in Biblical Theology.”

Seminary President Paige Patterson appointed Richard T. Vann Jr. and Robert W. Caldwell III to the faculty of the theology school.

Vann, a former U.S. Army chaplain, was appointed associate professor of pastoral ministry. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in foundations of education from the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

In addition to completing courses at the U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School in Fort Jackson, S.C., and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., Vann has three master’s degrees: a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., a Master of Education from Wayne State University in Detroit and a Master of Arts in New Testament from Denver Conservative Baptist Seminary in Colorado. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Mars Hill (N.C.) College.

Before his appointment to the faculty of Southwestern, Vann was a U.S. Army post chaplain, deputy command chaplain, a senior pastor, interim pastor, pulpit supply preacher, single adult minister and college instructor in Christian ethics.

Caldwell was appointed associate professor of church history. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in historical theology and two master’s degrees from Trinity and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. Trinity awarded Caldwell the Merit Scholarship Award for Historical Theology for two consecutive years. His master’s thesis on Jonathan Edwards was given Trinity’s award for best thesis in history or Christian thought. Caldwell has taught at North Park University in Chicago and Barat College in Lake Forest, Ill., and served as a teaching assistant at Trinity.

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