Forty Under 40: Ed Ericson

The son of an English professor, Ed Ericson grew up in Michigan, Iowa and California.

Ericson, 37, followed in his father’s footsteps by earning three college degrees, but all of those degrees were in history instead of English. Ericson has a bachelor’s degree from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., and master’s and doctoral degrees from Indiana University in Bloomington.

While working on his doctoral dissertation, Ericson began his teaching career at Calvin College. After two years, he moved to Siloam Springs to teach history at John Brown University in 1994.

He worked as a history professor at JBU for the next seven years, while also serving for two terms as chair of the Division of Social and Behavioral Studies.

Last year, Ericson became associate dean of undergraduate studies. With the retirement of Shirley Thomas, Ericson will take over as dean of undergraduate studies when classes resume this fall.

He said a familiar phrase within the Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities, of which JBU is a member, is “servant leadership.”

“I guess the model there is mostly trying to use the image of Christ and how He led,” Ericson said. “I’ve really felt a sense of calling. I find myself being sort of a missionary for the liberal arts, a missionary for history.”