Hardin-Simmons head Turner leaves for North Carolina post

ABILENE, Texas (ABP) -- Craig Turner, the president of Texas Baptists’ Hardin-Simmons University, has resigned to become president of Catawba College, a private liberal-arts school in Salisbury, N.C.

His decision to resign was influenced by his family, Turner said.

“The two most important words in this transition are the names Payton and Madeline -- the names of my granddaughters,” Turner said, in a press release. “This position is an opportunity to be near family, and that’s been the critical factor in this decision.”

Turner joined the Baptist General Convention of Texas-related school 1992 and served as vice president for academic affairs until 1996. He then became executive vice president and chief academic officer until becoming chief operating officer in June 2000. He became the school’s 14th president in 2001.

He said he expects HSU trustees to move quickly to form a search committee to select a successor. And he said he faces significant challenges at Catawba. “Their endowment is in need of strengthening, and that’s something I know something about,” he said.

“I also think they need to look at some new programs. They are in the heart of the financial center of that part of the country, and they don’t have a finance major at the college. That’s something I can look at from the outside and say ‘gee whiz, with all the opportunities, this is something you need to look at. ’”

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