Southern Methodist University if proud to annouce the appoinment of Reverend Dr. Brad R. Braxton to serve at Lois Craddock Perkins Professor of Homiletics at Perkins School of Theology. The appointment will be effective beginning June 1.

In annoucing the appointment, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Paul Ludden said, "Naming a new faculty member to an endowed position at SMU is recognition that the professor has achieved the highest levels of accomplishment in academic life. Dr. Brad Braxton's work and leadership exemplify the excellence of the University, and he is a most worth recipient of this distinctive appointment."

Braxton, who earned his Ph.D. in 1999 from Emory University, has an impressive resume that includes Senior Minister at The Riverside Church in New York, Associate Professor of Homiletics and New Testament (with tenure) at Vanderbilt University Divinity School and Senior Pastor at Douglas Memorial Community Church in Baltimore.

Braxton's responsibilities will include teaching at Perkins School of Theology and the Graduate Program in Religious Studies at SMU's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. He is the first African American to come to SMU with an appoinment to an endowed chair.