New faces in familiar spaces

As the new school year begins, Wheaton College is welcoming its first female provost, a prolific evangelical voice and other new faculty members.
Margaret Diddams, a Wheaton College class of ’83 alumna, was named successor to Provost Stanton Jones in March. Jones previously announced in August 2015 that he
would be stepping down from the position he had held since 1996 at the end of the 2015-2016 academic year. He returned to the psychology department, where he taught for 15 years before becoming provost, at the start of the fall semester as professor of psychology and core studies.
Diddams recalled that at the beginning of the application process she did not know if God was calling her to Wheaton. However, she was “open to the idea that God might be calling” her to the position of provost and was determined to “put forward her best efforts in the materials she submitted.”
It was the prayers of many individuals that carried her through the application process, Diddams said. After being appointed as provost in March 2016, she assumed her position in June.
Before coming to work at Wheaton, Diddams served as assistant provost at Seattle Pacific University where she spent over 20 years of her professional life. At SPU, Diddams taught classes in industrial and organizational psychology. She also spent over five years working at Microsoft as the senior manager of IT and of the Product Support Services Group.
This year, Diddams looks forward to the unveiling of the Christ at the Core curriculum, getting to know students and seeing them in action at games, recitals and other activities.
Wheaton College also welcomes Ed Stetzer as Billy Graham professor of church, mission and evangelicalism and executive director of the Billy Graham Center of evangelicalism. Stetzer is a renowned pastor, author and speaker. He holds master’s degrees in pastoral ministry and church growth and planting, with doctorates in pastoral leadership and missions.
Prior to starting at Wheaton this past July, Stetzer served as the teaching pastor of Grace Church in Hendersonville, Tenn. In addition to pastoring, he served as the executive director of LifeWay Research, an organization that works to equip church leaders for effective ministry. Stetzer also writes a blog and hosts a weekly radio program for Christianity Today called “The Exchange,” which focuses on theology, church planting and missions. He will continue blogging and broadcasting for Christianity Today while working at Wheaton.
In an interview with Charisma News, Stetzer explained that as a young man he had a desire to “impact churches to be on mission,” but as he got older his focus shifted. Now, Stetzer feels called to help Christians “know and engage their culture for the cause of Christ.” Through prayer, Stetzer realized this new calling and finalized his decision to come to Wheaton.
Diddams and Stetzer are not the only new additions to the Wheaton College faculty. The college welcomes a total of 40 new professors and visiting professors for the 2016-2017 school year. This list of new faces includes six psychology professors, two military science and ROTC professors, two computer science professors and a politics and international relations professor.