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More About Roger Parrott
Roger is president of Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi. He was recognized as one of “The 10 Most Visionary Education Leaders of 2021” by Education Magazine. Under his leadership, Belhaven was named one of “America’s Best Colleges to Work For” by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Roger is also the author of The Longview: Lasting Strategies for Rising Leaders.
Roger has been a sought after consultant to over 100 different ministries, and has experience serving on boards of international, national, and local ministries and non-profits, as well as higher education leadership organizations.
Dr. Roger Parrott is the President of Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi, one of the fastest growing and most innovative colleges, serving 5,000 students, including an online campus in China. Belhaven was named one of “America’s Best Colleges to Work For” by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Roger earned his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in Higher Education Administration.
During his tenure at Belhaven, he has led the University to complete 21 new construction or major renovation projects. During these years the number of full-time faculty has quintupled, undergraduate academic majors have dramatically expanded, innovative delivery and administrative systems were developed, and a general core Christian Worldview Curriculum was created. Additionally, a graduate school was established, now offering 25 Masters degrees and two doctoral level programs. New NCAA sports were added including football.
Over the past two decades Belhaven has become the leading Christian college in the Arts, as one of only 35 schools in the world earning accreditation in all four of the primary Arts – Theatre, Music, Visual Art, and Dance. Additional Arts majors were added including Creative Writing, Graphic Design, Arts Administration, and Film Production.
Roger has served the broader Church as a member of the Board of Mission America, a coalition of 100 denominations and 750 service ministries who have joined together for cooperative evangelism in America. He has served for a quarter-century on the Executive Committee of the Lausanne Movement, and was chairman of the 2004 Forum for World Evangelization held in Thailand. His board service has given Roger extensive international experience around the world, with deep University and personal ties to South Korea especially.
He has served on the boards of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and the National Assocation of Intercollegiate Athletics, and over a dozen local and regional boards for ministries and non-profit organizations.
His wife, MaryLou, earned her PhD in English and teaches Literature at Belhaven. He was raised in the Pacific Northwest, educated on the East Coast, worked in the Midwest for over a decade, and has now been in leadership in the South for over two decades.
He is the author a book articulating his leadership philosophy – The Longview: Lasting Strategies for Rising Leaders. His newest book, Opportunity Leadership: Stop Planning and Start Leading, will be released February 2022.
Roger was named one of “The 10 Most Visionary Education Leaders of 2021” by Education Magazine. He has served as a consultant for leaders and boards of nearly 100 different ministries and denominations.
Release date February 2022
Moody Publishers
Opportunity Leadership is grounded in waiting in anticipation for God-given opportunities to develop that mesh seamlessly with our mission, gifting, and capacity—propelling us to destinations that are heavenly ordained. As a result, we become leaders who hone traits that enable us to become highly sensitive to the wind of God and create an organizational culture that allows us to respond to new opportunities with urgency, adeptness, and energy.