Dondi E. Costin

Dondi Enos Costin (born August 21, 1964) is an American Baptist minister and former major general in the United States Air Force. He has been serving as the 6th president of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, since July 2023.

Previously, he served as Chief of Chaplains of the United States Air Force at the United States Air Force Chaplain Corps from 2015 to 2018 and as the third president of Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, South Carolina, from September 2018 to June 2023.

Early life and education Costin was born in Wilmington, North Carolina. He attended Emsley A. Laney High School and then the United States Air Force Academy, receiving a bachelor's degree in operations research. After graduating, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1986.

He received his Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas. He also holds Doctor of Ministry and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, as well as a Master of Arts in Counseling from Liberty University. His military education was also at the U.S. Air Force Academic Instructor School, the Squadron Officer School, and the Air War College.

Career

Military career Costin served as a squadron-level scientific analyst evaluating air-to-ground precision guided munitions, chief of scientific analysis on a major command headquarters staff, and assistant professor of aerospace studies. He completed a competitive category transfer into the Air Force Chaplain Corps in 1996.

Costin has since served as Protestant chaplain for Air Force Basic Military Training, flight line chaplain and then senior flight line chaplain for both special operations and conventional forces in Europe, senior Protestant chaplain, readiness instructor/ evaluator preparing Chaplain Corps personnel for worldwide deployment, Air Staff branch chief, wing chaplain, command chaplain for the air component mission in Southwest Asia, and command chaplain for Pacific Air Forces. An ordained Southern Baptist minister, was double promoted from the rank of colonel to major general to assume the position of Chief of Chaplains in August 2015.

Civilian career On April 13, 2018, Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, South Carolina, appointed Costin as the university's third president, effective July 1, 2018. He continued in that role through June 30, 2023.

In March 2023, Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, named Costin as the university's 6th president, effective July 1, 2023.

Awards and decorations