Dr. Stephen Jones will step down as president of Bob Jones University effective May 9, 2014.
Jones cited health issues for his decision. He submitted his resignation at the BJU Board of Trustees meeting Friday.
“The persistence of my health issues over the last three years is preventing me from providing the leadership the university needs at this time and prompted my personal decision to resign,” he said. “The BJU mission is more important than I.”
The BJU board will establish a search committee to identify candidates for president and “will prayerfully fill the position as soon as God leads us to a qualified person,” said Larry Jackson, chairman of the school’s board of trustees.
A Jones family member has led BJU for 87 years.
“The Board recognizes that for 87 years, God has chosen to do a great work at BJU through the Jones family and their contributions will continue. Since God is eternal, His work spans generations – He is the same yesterday, today and forever,” Jackson said in the release. “Our trust has always been in Him, and we trust He will continue to show Himself faithful in accomplishing great things as we move forward under a new president.”
Evangelist Bob Jones Sr. established BJU in 1927 in Bay County, Fla. The school moved to Cleveland, Tenn., in 1933.
BJU opened its Greenville campus in 1947, the same year Dr. Bob Jones Jr. became president. Dr. Bob Jones II became university chancellor in 1971 and his son, Dr. Bob Jones III, became president.
Stephen Jones was installed as the fourth-generation president in 2005.
