Gordon in the News: last updated 04/01/2013
Dr. Paul J. Maurer has been appointed Gordon College's Senior Vice President for External Relations, effective April 1. Drawing from more than 25 years of leadership in nonprofit and higher education administration, Dr. Maurer will lead the College's development operations and major government relations initiatives, managing vital relationships with a top tier of major donors and friends of the College as well as expanding its presence in government relations both regionally and nationally.
“Simply put, I do not believe there is another leader in Christian higher education who is as well suited for the role or a person as talented as Paul to lead Gordon’s advancement efforts,” said President Michael Lindsay in announcing the appointment to the campus community. “He is a man of great integrity, boundless energy, and tremendous leadership, all of which are precisely what we need to advance the work and witness of Gordon in the years ahead.”
Dr. Maurer’s credentials include serving as director of the capital campaign at Westmont College and as senior vice president for institutional advancement at Trinity International University while also serving as president of the Trinity International Foundation. In both roles, Dr. Maurer led capital campaigns that exceeded the most successful previous campaigns at those institutions—by a factor of five times at Trinity and a factor of four times at Westmont.
From 2009 until 2012, Dr. Maurer served as president of Sterling College, one of Gordon’s sister institutions within the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. Under his leadership, Sterling experienced the three largest enrollments in the school’s 124-year history and received its strongest accreditation review in over 40 years. Over the past year, Dr. Maurer has led the school of adult and graduate studies at Tabor College while consulting with other nonprofit organizations. He began his professional career by working with the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, where he was promoted in a series of roles of increasing responsibility from 1987 until 1999.
“I am absolutely delighted to join the team at Gordon, an institution I have long regarded and consider among the finest liberal arts colleges anywhere," Maurer said. "This is an exciting time at Gordon, which has a very bright future. I look forward to contributing to its forward progress.”
Paul Maurer earned his Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate University where he was an H.B. Earhart Fellow and a John M. Olin Fellow. Dr. Maurer and his wife, Joellen, look forward to relocating to the North Shore of Boston this spring. Prior to his doctoral work, Dr. Maurer earned a master of divinity degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he was president of the student government association. He earned his B.A. from the University of Cincinnati, where he was co-captain of the men’s soccer team.
Dr. Stan Gaede, who served as president of Westmont College during the time of Dr. Maurer’s tenure, was an enthusiastic advocate early in the search process. “Paul Maurer loves Christian higher education, from the inside out," Gaede said. “He has the rare ability to connect a university’s academic mission with the vital business of making it sustainable and achievable through philanthropy. We are delighted he is coming to Gordon.”
Paul Maurer’s daughter Liz is a junior at Gordon. He and his wife, Joellen, are also the parents of three other children—Jon, Daniel and Sarah.
In addition to his fundraising and administrative talent, Dr. Maurer is a scholar of the American presidency, with expertise on the moral and religious rhetoric of American presidents. With unanimous support from the Faculty Senate, the Provost, and the President, Dr. Maurer will hold faculty status.
