Milton C. Moreland is an American academic administrator and archaeologist serving as the 21st president of

Centre College Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky. It is an undergraduate college with an enrollment of approximately 1,400 students. Centre was officially chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819. The college is ...

Danville, Kentucky Danville is a home rule-class city in Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 17,236 at the 2020 Census. Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes ...

. A graduate from the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

, Moreland taught for eight years at

Huntingdon College Huntingdon College is a private Methodist college in Montgomery, Alabama. It was founded in 1854 as a women's college. History Huntingdon College was chartered on February 2, 1854, as " Tuskegee Female College" by the Alabama State Legislature ...

and was a member of the faculty and administration for thirteen years at

Rhodes College Rhodes College is a private liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee. Historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), it is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges a ...

, serving for some time as the dean of faculty, vice president for academic affairs, and provost. In February 2020, he was announced as president of Centre College; he assumed office on July 1, 2020, succeeding John A. Roush, and was formally inaugurated in October 2021.

Early life and education

Moreland was born and raised in

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown are ...

. He earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in history from the

, where he graduated with honors. This was followed by a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

and PhD, both in religious studies, from

Claremont Graduate University The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges which includes five undergraduate (Pomona College, Claremont McKenna Co ...

Claremont, California Claremont () is a suburban city on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. It is in the Pomona Valley, at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 census it had a popul ...

. Moreland wrote his honors thesis on the

Nag Hammadi library The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the " Chenoboskion Manuscripts" and the "Gnostic Gospels") is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Thirteen leather-bound papyr ...

Career

Moreland began his teaching career in 1995. He taught at

as an assistant professor until 2003, when he joined the faculty of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, as an assistant professor of religious studies. He was eventually promoted to associate professor and full professor. He also served as the director of the Rhodes Institute of Regional Studies and chaired the archaeology program in addition to teaching archaeology. In December 2015, Rhodes announced that Moreland had been selected from a national search to be the college's vice president for academic affairs and the dean of faculty; he had been serving as dean on an interim basis for the previous 18 months. Moreland additionally served as the provost at Rhodes. He was presented with Rhodes's Jameson M. Jones Award for Outstanding Faculty Service on August 17, 2012. He also served on the senior staff of Sepphoris Regional Archaeological Project, located in

Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...

, for upwards of two decades. Moreland's scholarship focuses on the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

and

history of Christianity The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, Christian countries, and the Christians with their various denominations, from the 1st century to the present. Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus, a Jewish teach ...

. Upon his departure from Rhodes, Dr. Katherine Clay Bassard was named his successor as provost and VP for academic affairs, effective July 1, 2020. On February 5, 2020, Moreland was announced as the 21st president of

, succeeding John A. Roush, following a unanimous vote of the presidential search committee. He assumed office on July 1, 2020, and much of the beginning of his term took place during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. He was officially inaugurated in a ceremony held at the Norton Center for the Arts on October 14, 2021. Among those that spoke at the ceremony were

Crit Luallen Eugenia Crittenden Blackburn "Crit" Luallen (born July 21, 1952) is an American politician who served as the 56th lieutenant governor of Kentucky from November 13, 2014, to December 8, 2015. Luallen previously served as Kentucky State Auditor. ...

and

Jacqueline Coleman Jacqueline Coleman (born June 9, 1982) is an American educator and politician serving as the 58th lieutenant governor of Kentucky since 2019. She has worked as an administrator, high school teacher, and high school basketball coach. Coleman is a ...

, the former and incumbent

lieutenant governors of Kentucky A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often s ...

and graduates of Centre in 1974 and 2004, respectively. The first incoming class of Moreland's administration totaled 359 new students, bringing Centre's total enrollment for the 2020–21 academic year to 1,333 students. The renovation of Franklin W. Olin Hall, which began in summer 2019, was completed in time and opened to students at the beginning of the 2021 spring term, including the installation of a

Foucault pendulum The Foucault pendulum or Foucault's pendulum is a simple device named after French physicist Léon Foucault, conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the Earth's rotation. A long and heavy pendulum suspended from the high roof above a circular a ...

in the building's north stairwell. Moreland and the college announced a $50 million project to build a new athletics center, including replacements for Boles Natatorium and

Farris Stadium Joe McDaniel Field at Farris Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Danville, Kentucky. It is the home of the Centre Colonels football, field hockey, lacrosse, and track teams, in addition to various intramural teams. The stadium was built in 19 ...

, in April 2021. In addition, the school added a

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

major in fall 2021.

Personal life

Moreland is married to his wife Dina, a former professional and national team

racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velo ...

player and pharmaceutical salesperson. She attended the

, like Milton, and has been an elementary school teacher since 2003. The couple has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moreland, Milton C. Living people People from Boise, Idaho American academic administrators American archaeologists Claremont Graduate University alumni Huntingdon College faculty Presidents of Centre College Rhodes College faculty University of Memphis alumni Year of birth missing (living people)