Stephanie Boddie, Ph.D., Named Inaugural Holder of New Chair Position in Diana R. Garland School of Social Work

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Stephanie Boddie, Ph.D., a longtime interdisciplinary Baylor University faculty member, researcher and author, has been appointed as The Fuller Family Endowed Chair for Social Justice in the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work. In this position, Boddie will continue her teaching, research and scholarship on the needs of those made vulnerable in society. Her work is intended to support churches and other organizations as they serve neighbors around them.

“It is both an extraordinary honor and very humbling to receive this chair position,” Boddie said. “This position is an invitation and a responsibility to deepen and expand the work I’ve done alongside faith-based organizations and churches that touch those who are at the margins.”

Boddie joined the Baylor faculty in 2017 and has served as assistant professor of church and community ministries, a joint position in Baylor’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work and George W. Truett Theological Seminary. In this role, her research and scholarship examine issues like food insecurity, poverty and social services, and she has studied how churches meet needs around them.

“Attention is at the heart of the research I do – paying attention and listening respectfully to the lives and struggles of people that, as people of faith, we would call our neighbors,” Boddie said. “My research examines the roots of issues like food insecurity or food waste, and searches for solutions that we can co-create together. These issues require more than one institution to address, but it’s important to engage the church in doing this work. Through research, I hope to support the church as it works to be the hands and feet and heart that cares for our neighbors.”

Interdisciplinary research that involves the church has long anchored Boddie’s professional efforts. Prior to coming to Baylor, she was an assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis and held research appointments at both Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon. Beyond higher education, she served as senior researcher at the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life. Dedicated to empowering students for meaningful careers beyond Baylor, Boddie was recognized as a 2020 Undergraduate Faculty Mentor of the Year.

Called to care for others

The Fuller Family Endowed Chair for Social Justice was established through the generosity of donors Charlie (BME ’79 cum laude, M.Div. ’10) and Cindy (B.M.E. ’79, B.M. ’80, both magna cum laude) Fuller of Dallas, to serve marginalized populations and inform the lives of churches through research. The chair, endowed through a $1.5 million gift in 2023, supports Baylor’s interdisciplinary research efforts in human flourishing in the University’s strategic plan and qualified for matching support through the Give Light Campaign’s Illuminate Chair Matching Program.

The Fuller Family’s commitment is described in the creation of the chair: “The Fuller Family feels a deep responsibility to heed the consistent call of the gospel to care for the poor, the oppressed and those that have been marginalized by society. The two-fold call to both advocacy and action is rooted deeply within Scripture, from the Hebrew Scriptures to the Gospels to the very end of the New Testament. It is a call universal to all who claim the name of Christ, both as individuals and as churches.”

The Fullers have dedicated their careers to music, ministry and education, serving in roles that span teaching, conducting, coaching and pastoral leadership. Charlie Fuller was named Professor Emeritus of Music at Ouachita Baptist University, where he also served as dean of the School of Fine Arts. His ministry and leadership roles include serving as minister for congregational life at Second Baptist Church in Little Rock, executive pastor at First Baptist Church of Washington, D.C., and transition pastor at Lake Shore Baptist Church in Waco. Cindy Fuller is a retired lecturer in music at Ouachita Baptist. She has served churches in Texas, Arizona and Arkansas as a pianist, organist and children’s choir director.

“The Fuller Chair provides the Garland School with an opportunity to illuminate biblical justice through social work research, seeking to understand and support the needs of the most vulnerable in our society,” said Jon Singletary, Ph.D., dean and holder of The Diana R. Garland Endowed Chair of Child and Family Studies. “Dr. Boddie will continue to strengthen the School’s legacy of advocacy and leadership in this area, while also serving the faith community through our broad network of churches.”

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more about Baylor University at www.baylor.edu.

ABOUT THE DIANA R. GARLAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work is home to one of the leading graduate social work programs in the nation with a research agenda that values humanity, engages spirituality and promotes equity. Upholding its mission of preparing social workers in a Christian context for worldwide service and leadership, the School offers a baccalaureate degree (BSW); a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree available in Waco or online; three joint-degree options, MSW/MBA, MSW/MDiv and MSW/MTS, through a partnership with Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business and George W. Truett Theological Seminary; and an online Ph.D. program. Visit the School of Social Work website to learn more.