Dondi E. Costin | |
---|---|
6th President of Liberty University | |
Assumed office March 31, 2023 | |
Preceded by | Jerry Prevo |
3rd President of Charleston Southern University | |
In office November 2,2018 –October 27,2023 | |
Preceded by | Jairy C. Hunter |
Succeeded by | Keith Faulkner |
Personal details | |
Born | Wilmington,North Carolina,U.S. | August 21,1964
Spouse | Vickey Northey (m. 1989) |
Education | |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Branch/service | United States Air Force |
Years of service | 1986–2018 |
Rank | Major general |
Commands | U.S. Air Force Chaplain Corps (Chief of Chaplains) |
Awards | |
Dondi Enos Costin (born August 21, 1964) is an American academic, Baptist minister, and former major general in the United States Air Force. He has led the United States Air Force Chaplain Corps and served as Chief of Chaplains of the United States Air Force from 2015 to 2018. He retired effective September 1, 2018, and served as president of Charleston Southern University until June 30, 2023. On March 31, 2023, he was named president of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. [1]
Costin was born in Wilmington, North Carolina. He attended Emsley A. Laney High School and then the United States Air Force Academy, receiving a bachelor's degree in operations research. [2] [3] After graduating, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1986.
He received his Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas. He also holds Doctor of Ministry and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, as well as a Master of Arts in Counseling from Liberty University. His military education was also at the U.S. Air Force Academic Instructor School, the Squadron Officer School, and the Air War College. [4]
Costin served as a squadron-level scientific analyst evaluating air-to-ground precision guided munitions, chief of scientific analysis on a major command headquarters staff, and assistant professor of aerospace studies. He completed a competitive category transfer into the Air Force Chaplain Corps in 1996. [5]
Costin has since served as Protestant chaplain for Air Force Basic Military Training, flight line chaplain and then senior flight line chaplain for both special operations and conventional forces in Europe, senior Protestant chaplain, readiness instructor/ evaluator preparing Chaplain Corps personnel for worldwide deployment, Air Staff branch chief, wing chaplain, command chaplain for the air component mission in Southwest Asia, and command chaplain for Pacific Air Forces. An ordained Southern Baptist minister, Costin is endorsed by the Liberty Baptist Fellowship to serve as an Air Force Chaplain. He was double promoted from the rank of colonel to major general to assume the position of Chief of Chaplains in August 2015. [6]
The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Fort Worth, Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It was established in 1908 and in 2005 was one of the largest seminaries in the world. It is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, and the National Association of Schools of Music to award diplomas and bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees.
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