Path to a Presidency by Anita Cirulis
Success brought offers, but it wasn’t until Northwestern came calling that Greg Christy said ‘yes’
The mood at Dakota Wesleyan University was so somber that one faculty member described the campus as feeling like a morgue. Greg Christy, it had been announced, was a candidate for president of Northwestern College.
Christy was well-loved at DWU, and for good reason. As the college’s vice president for institutional advancement, he played a major role in the success of a $40 million campaign and the construction of three new buildings. But it wasn’t only his fundraising ability that earned him admiration. Christy’s gift for strategic thinking led to his appointment as chair of a master planning task force, while his interpersonal communication skills made him a natural representative and spokesperson for the college.
“As I watched Greg in his leadership at Dakota Wesleyan, people were drawn to him because of his authenticity and commitment to mission,” says Doug Mason, who serves as a consultant for both DWU and Northwestern. “People across campus truly respected and liked Greg—not always an easy thing for an administrator to achieve.”
A Quick Study
Now Northwestern’s ninth president, Christy was 40 when he assumed office in January—a fact that shouldn’t be surprising, given the trajectory of his career.
He was barely 28 when Dr. Jack Ewing, then president of Dakota Wesleyan, made what Ewing calls the best hire of his career, tapping Christy to head the fundraising efforts for the financially challenged school as its director of institutional advancement.
At the time, Christy was the tickets and promotions manager in the athletic department at South Dakota State University. Ewing, a former academic dean at SDSU, had heard the athletic director rave about the work Christy was doing and the impact his organizational skills were having on ticket sales.
“I knew I couldn’t hire experience, so I hired potential,” Ewing says.
Less than two years later, Christy was promoted to vice president.
“He was already demonstrating he had the ability to be a college president back in 1996,” Ewing says of his protégé. “His greatest strength is his ability to see the big picture. At 30 years of age, he was helping me make decisions about how Dakota Wesleyan was going to move forward. He just has incredible intuition and always gave me good advice.”
He also has a deep faith. Jackie Davis, who reported to Christy during his 12 years at DWU, describes him as a spiritual leader both in the advancement office and on campus. “It was very clear he lived a life devoted to Christ,” she says.
Iowa Roots
At 6-4, with blond hair and blue eyes, Christy could easily be mistaken as Dutch, but his heritage is Welsh, Swedish and—as his last name suggests—Irish. Born and raised in Ottumwa, Iowa, the older of two boys, he started life in a hospital bassinet with a baseball glove at his side. Baseball and apple pie are two of his favorite things.
Christy is a 7-handicap golfer, a tenor who enjoys singing on his church worship team, and a self-described newspaper junkie who loves reading the Des Moines Register. He rises early and makes devotions and exercise part of his morning routine. He runs his life using a two-inch-thick Franklin planner that he carries everywhere.
He gets his love for people and memory for names from his father, a seed corn salesman. His passion for education comes from his mother, a grade school teacher. Also passed down were his middle name—Earl, from both grandfathers—and a die-hard loyalty to the St. Louis Cardinals.
A serious student and gifted athlete, Christy enrolled at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, an NCAA Division III school, attracted to its management degree and the opportunity to play baseball for a start-up program. His skills as a pitcher made him a four-year starter, earned him all-conference and all-region honors, and in 2007, secured him a place in Simpson’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
Christy met his wife, Michelle, in a calculus class at Simpson when she was a freshman and he was a junior. In a story illustrating his methodical, logical nature, she enjoys telling—much to his chagrin—how he made a list of female classmates he wanted to get to know as the professor called roll at the beginning of the semester.
“I guess I made the first cut,” she laughs.
The two struck up a friendship, began dating in the spring, and wed after she graduated. “Among the things that attracted me to him was that he is serious about his walk of faith and his relationship with Jesus Christ,” Michelle says. Married more than 16 years, they have three children: Ryan, 13; Madalyn, 9; and Kyle, 6.
Open Doors
While Michelle finished school, Christy continued his education at Western Illinois University, where he earned a master’s degree in physical education and sport management. He also spent six weeks in Europe and the Soviet Union with Athletes in Action, a sports ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, followed by work in Iowa State’s athletic development office as part of a required internship.
It was at Iowa State that Christy discovered his gifts as an administrator. Thinking he would combine his interest in coaching at the college level with the role of an athletic director, he began looking for his first job. A glut in the coaching market, however, left him stymied. Unable to find the job he wanted, Christy and his new bride moved to Brookings, S.D., where he took a position at the bottom of the totem pole as SDSU’s tickets and promotions manager.
“I think God had some lessons to teach me,” Christy says, “and ironically, it turned out to be a fantastic experience that eventually led me to move into university administration.”
Four years later, with a baby on the way, Christy was praying about his future when Jack Ewing offered him the position at Dakota Wesleyan. “That was a big moment in my life in terms of stepping away from athletics and moving into general university administration,” Christy says, “but it was clearly part of God’s plan.”
Answering the Call
A desire to do God’s will was still paramount for Christy when he learned he’d been nominated as a candidate for Northwestern’s presidency.
After Bruce Murphy announced in October 2006 his intention to retire the following year, a presidential search committee was formed and charged with identifying the qualifications of the college’s next president. High on the list were a solid, mature faith in Jesus Christ; a collaborative, team approach to leadership; a Reformed theology and commitment to Christian higher education; and proven abilities in strategic planning and fundraising.
Eleven months later, the committee recommended Christy as the person who best met those criteria. While their candidate came from a Baptist rather than a Reformed background, committee members were convinced he would ensure Northwestern stayed true to its distinctive Christian identity.
“It was very apparent he had investigated Reformed theology, thought through how that lined up with his own perspective, and didn’t see a conflict,” says the Rev. Roger Voskuil ’69, a member of the search committee and director of spiritual care at First Reformed Church in Sioux Center.
Christy’s strengths also outweighed the fact that he doesn’t have a doctorate.
“Gifts for a position are far more important than credentials,” Dr. Robert Duffett, president of Dakota Wesleyan University, told the committee. “I’m an Ivy League grad, former dean and provost, and I would exchange my degrees for the qualities and gifts you’ll receive in Greg.”
Those who know Christy well saw Northwestern as a perfect match for his talents. “He’s had some really great opportunities,” says Christy’s brother, Geoff, “but he wasn’t going to make a move that didn’t have as an integral part of it the ability for him to include his faith.”
That, says Greg, is the reason he and Michelle came to believe God was leading them to Northwestern. During his years at Dakota Wesleyan, he experienced a growing admiration for Northwestern’s commitment to academic excellence coupled with a Christ-centered focus.
“Whenever we’ve been approached about something, we’ve wanted to know what God wants. How can our talents and gifts best be utilized for the sake of the Kingdom?” he explains. “If I’m going to give my life to something, I want it to have lasting and eternal value.”
That’s why, when Northwestern asked, the answer this time was “yes.” 