President Stephen Waers

Biography

Prior to answering the call to serve as Milligan’s president, Waers worked as chief academic officer and chief information officer at Point University in West Point, Georgia. Waers previously worked as director of institutional effectiveness at Point University and held teaching appointments at both Point University and Manhattan Christian College in Kansas.

Waers is a 2007 graduate of Point University, where he was a dual major in Humanities and Biblical Studies. He earned a Master of Divinity with a concentration in Church History from Emmanuel Christian Seminary in 2010 before earning his doctorate in Religious Studies – Historical Theology from Marquette University in 2016. His dissertation work on early Trinitarian theology culminated in the publication of his monograph, Monarchianism and Origen’s Early Trinitarian Theology (Brill, 2022). He has published other articles focusing on the history and theology of the early church as well as the Stone-Campbell movement.

In addition to his study of historical theology and academic administration, Waers has had an interest in technology and programming that began during his teenage years. His knowledge of technology served him well as he also assumed the role of chief information officer at Point. In that role, he served as the architect of a digital transformation at Point that took a patchwork of systems and integrated them into a more unified digital ecosystem.

Waers is a native of Tallahassee, Florida, and grew up in churches that were part of the Stone-Campbell Movement. He is an ordained minister in the Independent Christian Churches. Waers, his wife, Katie, and his two daughters – Vivian and Ellie – live in Johnson City.

Accomplishments

Prior to accepting the call to become Milligan University’s 16th president, Stephen Waers distinguished himself as an innovative educator and administrator. Waers has spent the last three years serving as chief academic officer and chief information officer at Point University in Georgia. He held teaching appointments at Point and Manhattan Christian College in Kansas before moving into an administrative role at Point. Stephen and his wife Katie were married in May of 2007. Katie is a graduate of Georgia Tech with a degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering. Stephen and Katie have two daughters, Vivian (10) and Ellie (8). The family also has a black lab named Shadow.

EDUCATION