Emir Caner
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CLEVELAND, Ga. (ABP) — A Sunni Muslim-turned-conservative Baptist has been tapped as the eighth president of Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, Ga.
College trustees voted Aug. 8 to name Emir Caner to the position. Caner is founding dean of the College at Southwestern, the undergraduate program at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. The appointment follows a year-long search for a successor to Jerry Pounds, who resigned last year.
Truett-McConnell Vice President for Academic Services Mike Simoneaux has served as interim president since Aug. 3, 2007. Caner will begin his duties Aug. 18.
According to a biographical sketch provided by the college, most of his family disowned him when Caner, born and reared a Sunni Muslim, became a Christian in 1982. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies at Criswell College in Dallas, a master of divinity degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., and a doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Caner has authored or contributed to 16 books, including Unveiling Islam. His brother, Ergun Caner, serves as president and dean of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, Va. The school was founded by the late Baptist pastor, television evangelist and poltical activist Jerry Falwell.
The Georgia Baptist Convention financially supports Truett-McConnell and elects its trustees. At the convention’s 2007 annual meeting in November, the college received a portion of $2,412,946 that had been earmarked for Mercer University. The redistribution of funds marked the final action in the split between the convention and Mercer initiated two years earlier, primarily over gay-rights issues.
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