His unanimous selection by the Board of Trustees culminates a 16-month national search. Parkyn currently serves as provost and senior vice president at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.
Parkyn previously spent 23 years at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania, where he served several roles over the years – as senior vice president, vice president for planning, director of general education and assessment, and professor of religious studies. He also worked a number of years with the Messiah College urban campus affiliated with Temple University in Philadelphia.
“David Parkyn is an outstanding Christian scholar whose personal faith is naturally articulated and evidenced in his daily living,” said Bruce Bickner, Presidential Search Committee chair. “He understands Christian higher education from both the faculty and administrative perspectives. He is a wonderful mission fit for both the university and the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC), and he has a passion for justice ministry.”
The Parkyns currently worship in the Anglican tradition and have been active in their church. In describing his personal journey of faith, Parkyn writes, “The Christian faith should be articulated in formal statements and the spoken word, but it must also be expressed in a lived reality.”
Raised in Guatemala, Parkyn holds both a personal and scholarly interest in Latin America that he shares with his wife, Linda, who is a tenured faculty member at Messiah College. Fluent in Spanish, they developed their interest in issues related to student diversity as a result of their unique involvement with others cultures throughout their 31 years of marriage. Children, Betsy, 28, and Nathaniel, 25, reside in Boston. The Parkyns will move into North Park’s presidential residence this summer.
“Throughout the search process I’ve been attracted by the university’s strong academic tradition, which is intentionally shaped by a Christian commitment, an urban setting, and a multicultural community,” says Parkyn of his decision. “Linda and I are enthusiastic about the prospect of embracing North Park as our new academic home.”
Parkyn’s nomination by the board will be forwarded to the ECC Executive Board for action at the June Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Editor’s note: to read more of Parkyn’s background, please see Dr. David L. Parkyn.
