Get to Know Dr. Edwin Trevathan

This summer, the Baylor family will welcome Edwin “Ed” Trevathan, MD, MPH, as executive vice president and provost of the University. He comes to Baylor from his position as dean and professor of epidemiology in the College for Public Health and Social Justice at Saint Louis University and professor of neurology and pediatrics at SLU’s School of Medicine.

“Dr. Trevathan brings outstanding credentials and genuine enthusiasm for Baylor’s unique mission and the community vision of Pro Futuris,” Baylor President and Chancellor Ken Starr said. “As chief academic officer, he will be charged with advancing the University’s academic programs and providing oversight on vitally important matters of academic affairs. In his own collaborative way, Dr. Trevathan will provide leadership to the academic enterprise while vigorously supporting the bedrock principles of shared governance and academic freedom. We know he will make a powerful impact on our future progress, and we are delight to welcome him to the Baylor family.”

Prior to assuming his position as dean, Trevathan was a national center director at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. He also held faculty appointments at Emory University, the University of Kentucky and Washington University in St. Louis.

Trevathan earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1977 from Lipscomb University. In 1982, he received his master’s degree in public health from Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and his medical degree from the Emory University School of Medicine. He completed post-graduate training at Yale, Harvard and the CDC.

“We were convinced that it was essential for Baylor’s next Executive Vice President and Provost to bring at least three things to the table,” Still said. “One, a distinguished record of academic achievement; two, significant administrative experience in complex, multi-faceted institutions and organizations; and three, a clear understanding of and an unequivocal commitment to Baylor’s vision and mission as an Christian university. Ed fits the bill.”

Trevathan, who officially joins the Baylor family June 1, 2015, took time to answer a few questions about himself and his future at Baylor:

Tell us more about yourself and your family.
My wife, Linda, and I met when we were undergraduates at Lipscomb University, and we’ve been married now for 37 years. We just celebrated our anniversary on the 31st of December, which is a perfect anniversary date for an absentminded professor. We have three sons who are all men now, out of the house and scattered around the country. Our oldest and youngest sons are both married, and we have two grandchildren.

Linda is a nurse and nurse practitioner. Her undergraduate degree was in sociology and social work, and she then went to nursing school and graduate school in nursing. She works part-time as a nurse practitioner, with an emphasis on the under-served. Linda’s also worked as a CEO, and now chair of the board, of Predisan, a large, Christian not-for-profit medical mission working in Honduras.

I love data, consume lots of information and sometimes ask too many questions. I “manage while walking around,” so you will probably see me walking around campus. I prefer to hear a wide variety of well-informed opinions before making decisions. I also love Baylor’s practice of shared governance.

Do you have hobbies or other interests?
I have too many professional and academic interests to fit into a normal day, especially as an administrator. So, I confess that I maintain my clinical and research interests in place of hobbies. The brain and epidemiology, and now my interest in global health diplomacy, are so interesting that I just cannot stop.

That said, Linda and I love to travel and learn about new cultures. Our work in Honduras, now led by Linda, also consumes much of our time outside of work. I enjoy reading historical novels and biographies. I’m currently reading William Manchester’s three-volume biography of Winston Churchill. I also love sports, especially football.

What most appealed to you about coming to Baylor University?
I have watched Baylor from a distance for many years, and I’ve always thought that Baylor is one of the premier Christian universities in the world.

Visiting Baylor for the first time, I was impressed by the community-wide emphasis on the university mission. Whether I visited with the president, random students on the sidewalk, faculty, deans, board members, vice presidents or support staff, all seemed to have a clear understanding of the mission, vision and direction of the University. They seemed to fully embrace the mission, and they identified the mission as a major factor in choosing Baylor.

The bond of a common mission holds organizations together and produces excellence, even during tough times. The mission-centric culture at Baylor is fertile ground for a provost charged with implementing an ambitious strategic plan like Pro Futuris.

What are some of your goals or your vision as you assume the role of chief academic officer at Baylor?
I have previously taken leadership positions in which there was an obvious problem that I was recruited to address, a major reorganization I was asked to lead or a new organization I was asked to build. In taking the executive vice president and provost job at Baylor, I do not come with a specific agenda other than to do all I can to help Judge Starr in leading the academic mission of the University and to assist and support the deans and faculty leadership in achieving excellence in their programs.

I see my job as working with the University leadership and faculty to fully implement Pro Futuris. Then, after I learn more about Baylor’s strategic opportunities, I hope to be engaged and involved in developing a new five-year plan.

My first goal is to learn as much as I can as quickly as possible about Baylor and its academic units. After I listen to the dreams and aspirations of the faculty, staff and students, I will be in the best position to be supportive of the University achieving its goals.

My vision is that Baylor will emerge as the preeminent Christian university of the 21st century — a global community where men and women pursue truth, produce scholarly works and prepare the next generation of leaders as a manifestation of Christian faith and service.

What are your thoughts on Pro Futuris? Are there aspects that are of particular interest to you?
Pro Futuris is a beautifully crafted document that recognizes Baylor’s tradition of excellence in Christian education and boldly builds upon existing strengths to position Baylor as the preeminent Christian national research university with global reach.

I am excited by the focus on Transformational Education and Compelling Scholarship. Yet I suggest that the real strength in Pro Futuris is in the overall comprehensive approach to excellence — the total package, not the individual components. For example, Baylor’s pursuit of excellence in scholarship is framed by being a Christian university that recognizes the value and dignity of all people, including those marginalized by the larger society — the poor, the disabled, the elderly and children. It is those who are most in need who stand to benefit the most from the applied fruits of Baylor’s scholarship.

How will your extensive experience in medicine and public health contribute to your work as Baylor’s provost?
As a practicing academic physician and a public health leader, I have led teams that have worked across multiple academic disciplines to address complex problems. I have worked with people, including my patients, from many different educational and cultural backgrounds. I believe that this experience will be helpful.

I understand and value the importance of highly technical science, and I know what it takes for an institution to lead in highly competitive research environments. Yet I have also learned that it is the disciplines outside of STEM — such as the arts, the social sciences, business, political science, communications, philosophy and theology — that allow a physician, a scientist or an engineer to engage, communicate and apply scientific discoveries in a manner that benefits communities.

How will your background and beliefs complement Baylor’s mission?
There is a big difference between a university that wants to achieve academic excellence in order to simply be the best, and a university that wants to seek academic excellence primarily because of the desire to use that excellence to serve others, to serve the most disadvantaged and poor among us, to use scholarship and academic excellence to glorify God. Baylor’s excellence is intended as a manifestation of faith in action.

As a physician and public health practitioner, I have spent much time with people who are not academics. They are not educated and they are not very sophisticated — the poor, the disabled, the disenfranchised, those whom I think Jesus tells us we need to be helping. I hope to further explore how Baylor can use its incredible gifts to make a positive difference in the lives of people who are not our students or our faculty or our staff.

I hope to help Baylor ask the question, “How can Baylor use its academic mission to make the community better?” Baylor is in a position to ask this question across all disciplines.

Is there anything else you would like the faculty and staff at Baylor to know about you?
I’m all in. Sic ‘em, Bears!