John Lowden Knight (1915 – July 21, 2001) was a professor, university administrator, and a Methodist theolgian. He was President of Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, Nebraska; the fourth president of Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio; and the eighth president of the Wesley Theological Seminary, in Washington, D.C..
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Knight was born in Beverly, New Jersey. He graduated the public schools of Beverly and Burlington City in 1933. He received full tuition to Drew University, where he majored in Biblical Literature, graduating cum laude in 1939. He then attended Boston University, where he earned his A.M in 1941 and his S.T.B. (M.Div) in 1942. World War II prevented Knight from studying overseas, so he began graduate studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, earning his M.A. He was prepared to enter the University of Chicago School of Divinity for his PhD, but opted for his first academic appointment at Willamette University.
Facuty shortages at Willamette offered Knight the chance to become a college chaplain at a young age. He moved up quickly at Willamette, as he was named Assistant to the President following successes in planning the Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He also served as a professor, teaching courses in Bible History, and in 1946, summer courses at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver.
Knight's reputation in Methodist circles as a prodigious administrator landed him his first executive appointment at the age of 31. Knight served three years as President of the Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln. Knight's time at Nebraska showed marked growth and development of the institution. He quickly moved onto the vacant presidency at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio in 1949. In his memoirs, he does not reflect on his five years at BW. His years at BW saw the campus move farther and farther away from their traditional religious affiliation with the Methodist Church to a more secularized liberal arts college. The expectation of him to focus on fundraising for the university left him longing for his passion for the ministry. Such an opportunity availed itself in 1954.
In 1954, Knight became the senior pastor of the Trinity Methodist Church of Columbus, Ohio. Following his seven years at Trinity, he moved to assume the responsibilities of senior pastor of the First United Methodist Church of Syracuse, New York.
Knight was offered the presidency of the Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. in 1967. He served the seminary for fifteen years as president. It was here that Knight was able to live both his passions of ministry and administration. He presided over the doubling of the seminary's endowment, an increase in student enrollment, and numerous gifts to the seminary.
Knight was a well-respected leader in the United Methodist Church, serving as head of three affiliated universities, two honorary doctorates, listings in Who's Who in America from 1948 until his death, two separate nominations to the Methodist episcopacy (which he declined) and President Emeritus of Wesley Seminary.
| Preceded by Louis C. Wright |
President of Baldwin-Wallace College 1949–1954 |
Succeeded by Alfred Bryan Bonds |