History: Office of the President

John S. Pistole earned his bachelor’s degree from Anderson University in 1978. He went on to earn a juris doctorate from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law before going into practice for two years. Pistole began a career with the FBI in 1983 before he rose through the ranks and was appointed deputy director in 2004. In March 2006, the FBI honored Pistole with the 2005 Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive. President Obama nominated Pistole as Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the spring of 2010 and he was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate on June 25. At 4.5 years, he remains one of the longest-serving Administrator in TSA’s history.

In his role as Administrator of the TSA, Pistole led a 60,000-strong workforce, the security operations of more than 450 airports throughout the United States, the Federal Air Marshal Service, and shared security for highways, railroads, ports, mass transit systems and pipelines. Under his leadership, the TSA worked to transform as a risk-based, intelligence-driven counterterrorism agency dedicated to protecting the nation’s transportation systems.

Prior to his leadership with the TSA, Pistole served as a 26-year veteran of the FBI with extensive national security and counterterrorism experience. During this time, he was an instructor in Organized Crime matters at the FBI Academy. In 1994, Pistole became a field supervisor of a White-Collar Crime and Civil Rights Squad in Indianapolis, where he created a Health Care Fraud Task Force and a Public Corruption Task Force. He also developed curricula and provided instruction at the International Law Enforcement Academy in Budapest, Hungary.

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, Pistole was placed in charge of the FBI’s counterterrorism program, eventually becoming the FBI’s Executive Assistant Director for national security. In 2004, Pistole was named Deputy Director for the FBI. Since the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, Pistole contributed to the formation of terrorism policies during both the Bush and Obama administrations.

Pistole’s family has deep connections within Anderson University. His father, the late Dr. Hollis Pistole, graduated from Anderson University in 1945. He taught applied theology in the Anderson University School of Theology for 25 years, retiring in 1984. After his retirement, Dr. Pistole continued to serve as a chaplain in residence at the seminary. Pistole’s mother, the late Elizabeth (Smith) Pistole, was a 1943 graduate of Anderson University and taught at Anderson High School for many years.

Pistole and his wife, Kathy Harp, also a ’78 AU grad, have two adult daughters.

His parents’ work in education had a profound influence over Pistole and his siblings. Cindy (Pistole) Crouse BA ’68 began teaching at Anderson University in 1987 in the English Department and retired in 2011 as assistant professor of English. Carole (Pistole) Greenwalt BA ’72 is retired from Anderson Community School Corporation and has served as an adjunct professor at AU. Dr. David Hollis Pistole BA ’77 recently retired as a professor of biology at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

In October of 2004, Pistole was recognized as one of several outstanding alumni of institutions within the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). The CCCU annually recognized alumni of member schools who have made an impact in society. He is a recipient of the 2005 Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Executive. In 2006, Anderson University honored Pistole with the Honorary Doctor of Laws degree. In March 2006, the FBI honored Pistole with the 2005 Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive. In 2007, Pistole received the Edward H. Levi Award for Outstanding Professionalism and Exemplary Integrity.

John S. Pistole became president of Anderson University in Spring of 2015.

Dr. James L. Edwards served as the Anderson University President for 25 years. Prior to serving AU, Dr. Edwards was president and chief executive officer for Warner Press, the publishing house for the Church of God. Edwards graduated from Anderson University and the Anderson University School of Theology. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Policy and Leadership at The Ohio State University.

During his tenure as president, Dr. Edwards administered several comprehensive capital campaigns raising funding support totaling more than $200 million dollars. A number of major facilities were constructed during his presidency, including the Kardatzke Wellness Center, York Performance Hall, York Seminary Village, additions onto Decker Hall and Hartung Hall, a new business school, the Flagship Enterprise Center and improvements to residence halls and many existing campus facilities.

In his last year as President, he was the longest-serving college president in the state of Indiana.

Dr. Robert A. Nicholson, who served as college dean for twenty-five years, came to the presidency later in life and would have only seven years until his 1990 retirement. But these years would be full indeed, full of continuity with the past and freshness for new times.

Institutional mission was reemphasized and freshly articulated. The theme of servanthood was highlighted. Enrollments held steady in an increasingly competitive student marketplace. The name university was assumed and given meaning as an adult education division was established, new graduate programs were explored, faculty development programs were initiated and the number of vital partnership with the city of Anderson, local industries, the Church of God, Purdue University, and others increased.

Campus libraries were united, their holdings automated in major new space, and the modest institutional endowment was increased significantly. Ways were being found to maintain academic strength and accessibility for students desiring this distinctive form of higher education.

–Excerpted from Faith, Learning and Life: Views from the President’s Office of Anderson University by Dr. Barry L. Callen, University Professor of Christian Studies at Anderson University

Dr. Robert H. Reardon assumed the presidency in 1958 and led the maturing school effectively for the next quarter of a century.

His steady hand was crucial as the troubled 1960’s were weathered successfully and the school grew to two thousand students, broadened its partnerships with the church and local community, widened the scope of its curriculum and gathered a series of professional program accreditations, assembled a new generation of faculty, and built a range of new and impressive educational facilities.

Here was one who maintained the historic roots and community traditions of the campus in volatile times by strength of personality, singleness of vision, sturdiness of faith, and the uncommon ability to hold and sway a crowd with a pointed and timely story. When his retirement came in 1983, the one chosen to be his successor had been close by his side all of his twenty-five presidential years.

Read his thoughts on the purpose and limitations of a Christian college.

–Excerpted from Faith, Learning and Life: Views from the President’s Office of Anderson University by Dr. Barry L. Callen

Dr. John A. Morrison shouldered the burden of leading a modest educational enterprise through its earliest development from a Bible training school into a liberal arts college, then surviving the Depression and World War II, and finally moving into an era of full accreditation, rapid growth, and the founding of the graduate School of Theology.

Always with a magnanimous spirit and his native Missouri wit, he was tenacious in standing for what he believed–and he surely believed in Christian higher education. This man was the heart and voice of Anderson University for nearly four decades, from his first arrival on campus in 1919 to his retirement in 1958. His was an amazing tenure and he was an unusual man who both guided and grew with the school over these many years.

When his retirement finally came, the man chosen to by the Board of Trustees to be his successor had been at his side for several years and had drunk deeply from the well of his wisdom.

–Excerpted from Faith, Learning and Life: Views from the President’s Office of Anderson University by Dr. Barry L. Callen