MUNCIE — Former Ball State University president Paul Ferguson, who left Muncie in a cloud of mystery, has returned to his Southern California roots.
After a national search, he was hired recently as the founding dean of the School of Science, Technology and Health at Biola University, a private Christian school near Los Angeles.
The hiring apparently will reduce the amount of severance payments Ball State agreed to pay him.
"He is passionate about leading in the integration of a Christian worldview with science, technology and health sciences education and scholarship," Brenda Velasco, assistant director of public relations at the school, reported in a news release.
She quoted Ferguson as saying:
"With the remarkable development of the new Alton and Lydia Lim Center for Science, Technology and Health, commensurate with the reorganization of those disciplines into a unified academic structure, Biola has taken a visionary step to enhance its position as a top tier national university. As my wife, Grace, and I are led to close the chapter of our lives focused on public higher education, we are looking forward to building an integrated environment of faith and academics to educate young men and women to impact the world for Christ.”
Ferguson's unexpected and apparently forced resignation from Ball State came in January, after only 18 months on the job.
The BSU board of trustees gave him two months of paid sabbatical leave, during which he was not actively engaged as president, which ended March 25.
Copyright ©2024 The Star Press