Two veteran educators were recognized today for their lifetime achievements in the area of Church of God education.
Since 1976, the Church of God has bestowed the Distinguished Educators Award to recipients who have made a unique contribution to education in the Church of God. The award is presented biennially at the Church of God Educators Seminar during the General Assembly. This year the event took place July 26 at the Hilton hotel in Orlando in a pre-Assembly conference.
The 2010 Distinguished Educator Leadership Administration Award was presented to Dr. Donald S. Aultman, while the Faculty Educator Award was given to Dr. Donald N. Bowdle.
1996, the General Board of Education expanded the award to two recipients. One award is to represent a faculty educator and the other is designated as a leadership administration award. The recipients of these awards are selected from a list of nominees which may be submitted by church officials, national and territorial leaders from around the world, faculty and administration from educational institutions internationally, missionary educators, and ministerial development board members.
Aultman is a pioneer in the Church of God when it comes to youth and education. His achievements are many “firsts” and stem from his passion for youth which began back when he conducted the first youth camp for the Church of God in Texas at the age of 21. His focus as an educator grew over the years as he was appointed to various positions which allowed him to develop programs and initiatives. He is credited with writing the first Church of God Christian education publication, Does Your Church Need a Christian Education Director? in 1957. He was active in the early years of the Lee College (now Lee University) Alumni Association and was involved with several firsts there as well, including the first student loan fund (1959), a charter for local and state Lee College alumni chapters (1959), and the initiation of the Distinguished Alumni Award (1960). He was also the first editor of The Lee Alumnus, the first Lee alumni publication, which is today called, Torch.
Aultman’s “firsts” continued when he was elected to lead the Youth and Christian education Department as assistant director (1960-64) and then as director from 1964-68. During those years some of the firsts included the inaugural Youth World Evangelism Appeal (YWEA), Church of God Teen Talent Parade, Youth Music Competition, Church of God Family Training Hour, and the National Youth Congress, held in Natural Bridge, Virginia. It was the first national gathering of Church of God young people and forerunner to Winterfest.
Aultman’s endeavors in education continued when he was appointed vice president and dean of Lee College in 1968. He led the reorganization of Lee as a liberal arts college with three divisions: Arts and Sciences, Education, and Religion. He led the initial accreditation of Lee College by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), and created the College Council, the first body to involve students on administration and faculty committees in the college academic decision-making processes.
Following two decades of endeavors in private business which included leadership of the Psychological Studies Institute, Aultman returned to his love of education in 1998 when he was tapped to create and implement the School of Ministry, a distance learning program for ministers. At the same time the Division of Education was formulated to create a unified structure for Church of God educational institutions. Aultman was named vice chancellor of the division in 1999. During the next decade, Aultman would assist in creating and leading the Certificate In Ministerial Studies (CIMS), Denominational Standards and Certification for Church of God educational institutions, and the Calling And Ministry Studies (CAMS). He was also the founder of the Patten University Internet Degree Program. In 2006 he led the unification of the Ministerial Development and School of Ministry into a single unit in the Division of Education.
In addition to this latest award, Aultman has been recognized for his educational achievements by other organizations and societies including Who’s Who in American College and University Administration, Crowell-Collier EducationalCorporation, Outstanding Educators of America and earlier this year he was honored with placement in the Pentecostal Theological Seminary Hall of Prophets. Aultman’s education includes the Ed.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Tennessee.
Making the presentation of the award to Aultman was General Overseer Dr. Raymond Culpepper who admonished the roomful of educators in the room. “I am thankful for all of you and who you represent…the ministry of teaching.” In recognizing the accomplishments of Dr. Aultman, Culpepper stated, “leadership like yours just doesn’t just happen.”
Dr. Donald Bowdle has spent a virtual lifetime teaching generations of students enrolled at Lee University. For 48 years he has been a member of the faculty at Lee teaching religion studies in a wide variety of emphases. Beginning his career at Lee in 1962, Bowdle arrived as a young faculty member already imminently qualified with four degrees in hand: a B.A. in Biblical Education and History from Lee; M.A. and Ph.D. in New Testament Text and Theology from Bob Jones University and a Th.M. in Ancient and Medieval Studies from Princeton Theological Seminary. He was arguably the most educated faculty member at Lee at the time. But he would not be content with the degrees he had for he earned a Th.D. in American Christianity from Union Theological Seminary in 1970. In the 1980s he was awarded two Postdoctoral Fellowships, one from Yale University and another from the University of Edinburgh.
An ordained minister in the Church of God and native of Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Bowdle’s gift of his life to Lee University is unprecedented. He has served as a full time faculty member longer than anyone in the history of Lee. Over the course of his career he has served three times as the chairperson of various religion department structures, such as Bible and Christian Ministries and Dean of the Division of Religion. He has been recognized for his excellence with two awards at Lee including the first Excellence in Scholarship Award in 1986 and the highly coveted Excellence in Teaching Award in 1973. In 2002 he was honored with the naming of a three story Lee dormitory in his name and in 2004 he was given the highest faculty rank of Distinguished Professor. He is only the second faculty member at Lee to ever received the recognition.
Dr. Bowdle’s academic contributions go beyond Lee as well where he has been a member of the adjunct faculty of the Church of God Theological Seminary, Georgia State University, Virginia Commonwealth and University of New Haven. He has also served as a visiting lecturer at Berea College, University of Edinburgh, Yale University and Han Young Theological University in Korea. His research has been published in numerous academic publications and through the years he has presented papers at seminars and association meetings.
Making the presentation to Dr. Bowdle was Lee University president Dr. Paul Conn, who spoke fondly of learning under the ministry of the Lee professor. “I was not his best student, but he was my best teacher,” Conn said. “There is a rich life to celebrate in Don Bowdle….he is the model of the Christ-centered and Spirit-filled life.”
The Distinguished Educator Awards were chosen by a distinguished panel of 12 judges consisting of university professors, church leaders and past recipients. Special appreciation is expressed from the General Board of Education to Dr. H. Lynn Stone for his coordination of the nomination and selection process.