Dr. Mark L. Walker looks to the future during transition to Lee’s presidency
Photo by Sydney Pressley
Dr. Mark L. Walker is looking forward to developing a legacy of excellence as he prepares to make the historic transition into Lee’s presidency. The decision for Walker to succeed Dr. Paul Conn was announced by the board of directors in late January.
Walker is stepping into the presidency with deep-rooted, familial ties to both Lee and the Church of God (COG). He has been married to his “best friend” Udella Walker for 36 years. Together, they have two children and three grandchildren. Walker’s parents and children attended Lee, as well as his wife and several of his aunts, uncles and cousins.
Although he was never enrolled at Lee, Walker received Lee’s Honorary Alumni Award in 1999. Currently, Walker serves as Vice President for Ministerial Development and the Chair of Lee’s Department of Christian Ministries. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in counseling from Georgia State University and his doctorate in organizational leadership from Regent University’s School for Leadership Studies.
“I’ve done everything you can do at Lee but be a student,” Walker said. “I was on the board of directors. I’ve spoken in chapel and convocation … Now, I’m going to be the president.”
Walker is also a fourth-generation COG minister. Following closely in the footsteps of his father, Walker pastored Mount Paran North COG in Marietta, Georgia for 25 years. As a senior pastor, he was given countless opportunities to refine his faith and leadership skills. Walker also believes pastoring prepared him in many ways for the presidency.
“You have to be in front of a lot of different types of audiences,” Walker said. “From an organizational leadership standpoint … a college president has to deal with a board of directors like a pastor has to deal with an elders board.”
Walker said he feels the pressure to maintain the “high standard of excellence” that makes Lee unique while building on the legacy and drive established by Dr. Conn.
“I don’t feel the pressure to be Dr. Conn. I can’t be. I have to be me,” Walker said. “It’s that challenge. It’s that calling. It’s that drive to maintain that excellence.”
Walker defines excellence as a willingness to show up and perform to the best of one’s ability to reach a common goal.
“I think excellence is knowing that you have given everything you have to accomplish and go after what God has called you to do,” Walker said. “You don’t shortchange or leave any stone unturned. You come ready to work every day and do it to the best of your ability. I think [excellence is] modeling what Lee is.”
Walker said he must model what Lee is and cited Lee’s core values as foundational to his presidency.
“I’ve got to model being Christ-centered,” Walker said. “I’ve got to model being a person of redemptive service. I’ve got to model being a person of ethical action. I’ve got to model being a person of responsible citizenship. I’ve got to model integrating faith and calling.”
Without these core values, Walker said he would not be modelling the excellence that Lee has worked to instill in its faculty, staff and students.
“If I’m not embodying that, then it’s really just a bunch of words,” Walker said. “Modelling what we are and giving everything to that on a regular basis … I think that’s what God deserves.”
Walker also cited Scripture as the inspiration for his working definition of excellence.
“I think [God] deserves our best,” Walker said. “One of my favorite scriptures is Colossians 3:17: ‘In whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father,’”
As for his time at Lee, Walker said he has been impacted most by the students’ desire to find their calling and pursue it with passion.
“Since being here on campus,” Walker said, “one of the greatest impacts on me spiritually has been seeing on a daily basis the passion that the students have for the Lord, for their calling and for really wanting to see how God has wired them, called them and developed that.”
In addition to the students’ willingness to consistently seek their calling, Walker commends faculty and administration for their roles in shaping Lee’s students.
“Lee has been so consistent in holding to and advancing their mission as being a Christ-centered liberal arts university,” Walker said. “There is this consistent, deep, passionate dedication of the faculty and administration to really connect students to God and help students develop their callings and giftings that God has for them.”
Walker said that while the news of Conn’s retirement and his election both came as a shock, there were seeds planted throughout his life that opened his mind to the possibility of college leadership.
“I had a mentor that said to me one time, ‘Have you ever thought about being a college president?’ … It opened my heart and mind to the possibility,” Walker said.
Walker said until that point becoming the president of a university had never crossed his mind, but he can now see how these events culminated in a journey that led him to this moment.
In the future, Walker sees Lee holding the standard of what it means to be a Christ-centered liberal arts university and venturing into areas with greater global leadership capacities.
“We want to put students who are called of God and equipped by God [through] Lee to go into those areas and live Christ-centered lives in those areas and do the work unto the Lord in those areas,” Walker said.
While planning for his presidency, Walker said he is most looking forward to engaging with students to create an atmosphere of growth as he casts his vision for next year.
“I have the opportunity to really engage with students across all of our disciplines,” Walker said. “Who wouldn’t be excited about that?”
During the first chapel service following the announcement, Dr. Conn introduced Walker to a crowd of students and faculty where he was met with applause.
“I’m so pleased and so excited about the future of Lee under the leadership of Dr. Mark Walker,” Conn said. “We’re really looking forward to the next six months of making this transition. We think the Lord is going to use him to continue to do great things here at Lee.”
Over the coming months, Walker and Conn will work closely together to hand off the administrative and personal sides of the office. Walker will officially assume the role of president on Aug. 1 when Conn steps into his new role as chancellor.
“God can change your life with one word in one moment,” Walker said. “The call to offer me the position of president came at 10:51 on Friday morning. It lasted seven minutes. In seven minutes, my life was changed.”
