Donald Dowless, currently serving as vice president for academic affairs at North Greenville University, has been named president of Shorter University, a Georgia Baptist institution in Rome, Ga.
DowlessDowless, who also previously was a faculty member at Charleston Southern University, will become Shorter’s 19th president effective June 1.
Having earned a Ph.D. from Baylor University in 1989, Dowless began his academic career as an assistant professor of religion at Charleston Southern University. He became chair of the department of religion, then dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and then associate provost. In June 2006, he was named vice president for academic affairs at North Greenville.
At both North Greenville and Charleston Southern, Dowless served on SACS reaffirmation of accreditation leadership teams and helped lead the two institutions through successful 10-year reaffirmation processes.