MEDIA RELEASE__Dr. Alex Sider, president of Bluffton University, will be the Bluffton Lions Club speaker on Tuesday, November 3.  Guests are welcome.  The event is at Bluffton Town Hall at 6:30  p.m.

ABOUT ALEX SIDER
Alexander Sider, Ph.D., President of Bluffton University. A native of Grantham, Pa., Dr. Sider earned his Ph.D. in Religion from Duke University (2004), an MTS from The Divinity School at Duke University (1998), and a B.A. in Religion (Philosophy concentration) from Messiah University (1995). He also spent time at Oxford University in England as a visiting fellow in theology at Blackfriars Hall.

Dr. Sider has more than 20 years of experience in higher education and came to Bluffton in 2006. Here, he has served as Professor of Religion, the Harry and Jean Yoder Scholar in Bible and Religion, Director of Peace and Conflict Studies, Director of University Assessment Programs, ADA Coordinator, department chair, faculty chair, academic dean and vice president. 

Prior to coming to Bluffton, Dr. Sider taught at High Point University (2001-2002) and in the religion department at Duke University (2003-2004). 

He is the author or co-author of two books, “To See History Doxologically” (Eerdmans 2011) and “Presence: Giving and Receiving God” (with Isaac Villegas, Cascadia 2011), as well as numerous articles and chapters in Christian theology, ethics, Anabaptist studies and disability studies. 

Raised in the Brethren in Christ Church, Dr. Sider has always been drawn to the importance of faith in both the lives of individuals and within higher education. He attended Raleigh Mennonite Church in North Carolina prior to becoming a founding member of Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship in 2004. 

Dr. Sider and his wife Kathy Dickson, a 2003 Bluffton alumnus, have two children, Evan (10) and JD (7) and reside in Bluffton. He and his family attend First Mennonite Church in Bluffton.