Jones to succeed longtime Divinity School dean in 2025

Dr. Barry Jones will be the next dean of Campbell University Divinity School - beginning June 1, 2025 - and will succeed longtime dean Dr. Andy Wakefield, who will return to the Divinity faculty next summer.

The announcement was made on Nov. 20, by Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Dr. Michael Adams, who called both men valued members of the School.

"Dr. Jones brings a wealth of academic and pastoral experience to this role," said Adams. "And he succeeds a man in Dr. Wakefield who has been an integral part of the Divinity School, shaping its programs and mentoring students for over a decade.

"We thank Dr. Wakefield for his dedicated service and look forward to his continued contributions in the classroom as he enters the next phase of his career."

Jones joined Campbell University's faculty in 2000 after earning his undergraduate degree from Campbell and graduate degrees from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Duke University, where he earned his Ph.D. He previously taught at Mars Hill University and was pastor of Park View Baptist Church in Durham.

At Campbell, Jones has taught courses in Biblical Hebrew and Old Testament literature - including the prophetic and poetic books - and has developed specialized courses on Exodus, Jeremiah and Psalms. An ordained minister, he has served as an interim pastor, preacher and Bible study leader in numerous churches across North Carolina.

He and his wife Beth (a two-time Campbell graduate in 1985 and 1988) live in Raleigh and have two adult children.

Wakefield joined the Divinity School faculty in 1997 after earning his undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University, the Master of Divinity degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University. Over the past 27 years, he has taught not only in the area of New Testament and Greek, but also in leadership, spiritual formation, technology and ministry, and preaching. He has held the Tyner Endowed Chair of Biblical Studies since 2008, and in 2010 he was named Dean of the Divinity School. Currently he is the longest-serving dean on the Provost's Council.

Throughout his service to the university, Wakefield has also been deeply invested in service to the church. Over the past three decades, he has served 14 churches as an interim pastor, and dozens more as preacher, teacher, and retreat leader. He and his family helped to start Baptist Fellowship of Angier, a mission-focused church that explored innovative polity and structure.

He and his wife, Olivia, have two children and two grandchildren.