Williams, Michael E. 1960–

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Williams, Michael E. 1960–

(Michael Edward Williams, Sr.)

PERSONAL:

Born July 30, 1960, in Mobile, AL; son of Charles E. (in insurance) and Olive Jo Hayes (a teacher) Williams; married Roberta J. Williams (an accountant), November 28, 1987; children: Michael, Josh, and Carey. Ethnicity: "Anglo-white." Education: Troy State University, B.S., 1982; Auburn University, M.A.C.T., 1984; Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary, M.Div., 1987, Ph.D., 1993. Politics: "Independent." Religion: "Baptist." Hobbies and other interests: Baseball, reading, jogging, sports, movies, and music.

ADDRESSES:

Home— Aledo, TX. Office— Dallas Baptist University, 3000 Mountain Creek Pkwy., Dallas, TX 75211.

CAREER:

Historian and theologian. Trinity Hills Baptist Church, Fort Worth, TX, pastor, 1987-95; Dallas Baptist University, Dallas, TX, assistant professor, 1995-99, associate professor, 1999-2002, professor of history, 2002—.

MEMBER:

Baptist History and Heritage Society (vice president, 2007—), Southern Historical Association, American Society of Church History, Texas Baptist Historical Society, Fellowship of Baptist Historians (secretary, 2000—).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Church history award, Texas Baptist Historical Society, 1997, for Victory through Faith: A History of the Rosen Heights Baptist Church, 1906-1996, and 1999, for To God Be the Glory: The Centennial History of Dallas Baptist University, 1898-1998; meritorious service award, Baptist History and Heritage Society, 2006.

WRITINGS:

Victory through Faith: A History of the Rosen Heights Baptist Church, 1906-1996, Rosen Heights (Fort Worth, TX), 1996.

To God Be the Glory: The Centennial History of Dallas Baptist University, 1898-1998, Legacy Books (Arlington, TX), 1998.

Isaac Taylor Tichenor: The Creation of the Baptist New South, University of Alabama Press (Tuscaloosa, AL), 2005.

Contributor to periodicals and journals, including Journal of Texas Baptist History, Alabama Baptist Historian, and Baptist History and Heritage. Book review editor for Baptist History and Heritage,2003—.

SIDELIGHTS:

Michael E. Williams is an American historian and theologian. As an academician, Williams published his first book,Victory through Faith: A History of the Rosen Heights Baptist Church, 1906-1996, in 1996. This was followed by another book on the history of a local church in 1998,To God Be the Glory: The Centennial History of Dallas Baptist University, 1898-1998. Both books received the church history award from the Texas Baptist Historical Society in 1997 and 1999 respectively. Williams also received the meritorious service award from the Baptist History and Heritage Society in 2006.

In 2005 Williams published his third work of nonfiction, this time a biography called Isaac Taylor Tichenor: The Creation of the Baptist New South. The book offers a discussion of the life and impact of the Southern Baptist leader Isaac Taylor Tichenor, founding president of what became Auburn University. Tichenor served as an unapologetic Confederate chaplain and a leader of the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board. He also worked to transform the agrarian South into an industrialized region. Doug Weaver, in a review for Baptist History and Heritage, wrote that "future biographies of Baptist leaders should follow the example of this excellent work by Michael Williams that sets the Baptist story in the broader cultural environment." Tandy McConnell, writing in Church History, thought that "while effectively connecting Tichenor with the wider world of antebellum Southern culture, [Isaac Taylor Tichenor] remains essentially an institutional history of the Home Mission Board and its most prominent early leader." In a Journal of Southern History review, A. James Fuller thought that "although the book is generally well written and based on solid research, one wonders if Williams may state the case for Tichenor's role too strongly." Nevertheless, Fuller concluded that "Tichenor made many positive contributions, and Williams has done a fine job of restoring him to his proper place in southern history."

Williams told CA: "I view my writing as an extension of my teaching. Many times my writing and research informs my teaching and vice versa. My faith also influences my writing. I am especially into southern religions and the history of Baptists, southern history, the American Civil War and Reconstruction era, and presidential history. My writing has been particularly influenced by my former professors, H. Leon McBeth, William R. Estep, and Wayne Flynt. I have been influenced by other historians, such as Stephen Ambrose, David McCullough, H.W. Brands, Mark Noll, Joseph Ellis, Nathan Hatch, James McPherson, and William C. Davis."