Hendon Named Director of Baylor Interdisciplinary Core
Dr. David W. Hendon, professor of history and director of graduate studies in the History Department at Baylor University, has been appointed the new director of the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core (BIC).
Hendon succeeds Dr. Randy Todd, who has accepted a position at Samford University.
"Dr. Hendon is exceptionally qualified to lead the BIC program in the years ahead. His intellectual background and experience are broad, and he has been an active participant in BIC from its beginning," said Dr. Donald D. Schmeltekopf, provost and vice president for academic affairs. "In addition, David Hendon is a person held in high regard by everyone at Baylor. He will do a superb job as the new director of BIC."
Hendon, who has been a member of the Baylor faculty since 1977, said the BIC program is the most exciting teaching experience he has ever had. "The students are involved, energetic and as far from passive as you can get. They constantly challenge the faculty and force us to keep learning and teach outside of our narrow specialization," Hendon said. "I look forward now to taking on a leadership role and moving on to a higher level of perfecting a good program."
A native of Atlanta and a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Vanderbilt University, Hendon earned his master's degree and doctorate from Emory University. Since coming to Baylor, Hendon has focused his teaching on 19th and 20th century European history, but he also has international teaching experience in exchange and study abroad programs in Japan, Vienna and the British Isles.
Currently, Hendon is chairman of the World History Association of Texas. He also sits on the board of the Journal of Church and State and prepares the international section of the publication's "Notes on Church-State Affairs." For 12 years, he was on the staff of the American Historical Association's journal Central European History. He is an active member of Lake Shore Baptist Church.
The Baylor Interdisciplinary Core -- known as BIC -- is an innovative core curriculum for undergraduates. The BIC takes students through 41 semester hours of academic experience designed to broaden, enrich and equip them for learning and for life. As well as satisfying general education requirements for all Baylor undergraduate degrees, BIC includes courses in world cultures, the world of rhetoric, the natural world, the social world, Biblical heritage and contemporary issues, mental and physical wellness, and mathematics for decision making.