McMaster Divinity College is proud to announce that Dr. James D. Dvorak has been appointed to the position of Vice President Academic. He succeeds Dr. Phil Zylla, who plans to return to a faculty position following a well-earned research leave.
A graduate of McMaster Divinity College’s PhD program, Dr. Dvorak brings twenty years of experience in higher education and is skilled in educational technology. Previously the Chair of the Division of Bible at Oklahoma Christian University, he has taken on many roles in teaching and administration. In his role as Chair, he led a team in the design and implementation of a new online Master of Arts in Christianity and Culture program. As the Association of Theological Schools liaison, he was instrumental in acquiring an ATS grant for faculty training and certification in online teaching, in addition to fulfilling many administrative roles related to budgeting, assessment, and reporting.
While at Oklahoma Christian University, Dr. Dvorak also served in several other roles, including Professor of Greek and New Testament, Chair of the Graduate School of Theology, Director of the North Institute for Teaching and Learning, and Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning.
Dr. Dvorak began his role of Vice President Academic at the end of July, joining the President’s Cabinet alongside MDC’s President, Dr. Stanley E. Porter, and VP Finance, Erica Rasmussen.
“We are excited to welcome Jim back to McMaster Divinity College and are confident that his previous experience in teaching and administration has prepared him well for this role at MDC,” said President Porter. “His expertise in educational technology, paired with his dedication to providing an education that is deeply spiritually formative and andragogically sound, will position MDC well as we serve our mission of training future Christian leaders for the Church, academy, and society.”
Dr. Dvorak is looking forward to serving as the new Vice President Academic: “I am delighted to be returning to MDC to work amongst such a well-respected group of individuals, many of whom were influential in my own studies. I look forward to serving MDC and its students in the years ahead.”
As part of his new role, Dr. Dvorak also joins the Faculty as Professor of New Testament. He says, “I love teaching! One class I am particularly looking forward to developing and teaching is the teaching and learning/pedagogy class for PhD students. One of the things I really appreciate about MDC is that it is one of the few graduate schools that intentionally prepares PhD students for teaching.”
Dr. Dvorak has published a number of books and articles, most recently authoring The Interpersonal Metafunction in 1 Corinthians 1–4. Currently, he is working on a discourse commentary on Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon and a commentary on 1 Corinthians. Dr. Dvorak also serves as co-chair of the Biblical Greek Language and Linguistics unit of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) where he will present a paper this coming November.
To learn more about Dr. James D. Dvorak, visit his Faculty page.
