Baylor University Appoints Doug Weaver, Ph.D., as Barbara Jo Beard Driskell Endowed Research Chair in Historical Studies

By Randy Fiedler, Baylor University College of Arts & Sciences Marketing and Communications

WACO, Texas (September 18, 2023) – Baylor University announced today the appointment of Doug Weaver, Ph.D., as the Barbara Jo Beard Driskell Endowed Research Chair in Historical Studies. Weaver, who joined the Baylor faculty in 2003, serves as interim chair of the Department of Religion in the College of Arts & Sciences.

“Dr. Weaver is a leading voice nationally in Baptist historical studies through his research, student mentoring and teaching. Because of his experience and expertise, he is most deserving serving as the Driskell Chair,” said Lee C. Nordt, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts & Sciences.

“It’s a great honor to be the inaugural recipient of the Driskell Chair and to help represent the importance of historical studies of Christianity to our Department of Religion and Baylor University,” Weaver said. “The support provided by the endowed chair will make an enduring contribution to researching and understanding Baptist studies and the many voices found within the Baptist tradition.”

Weaver is a member of the Department of Religion's historical studies area, and his current research and teaching focus on Baptist history and Pentecostalism. In 2019, Baylor University Press published his book “Baptists and the Holy Spirit: The Contested History with the Holiness-Pentecostal-Charismatic Traditions.”

Before coming to Baylor, Dr. Weaver taught and was educated at academic institutions in the Baptist tradition. He is a member of Calvary Baptist Church and has pastoral experience. Dr. Weaver and his wife, Pat, are native Virginians.

The Barbara Jo Beard Driskell Endowed Research Chair in Historical Studies was established through a gift from the late Donald A. Driskell of Maine, in memory of his wife, Barbara Jo Driskell, who died in 1994.