Duane Litfin

A. Duane Litfin (born 1943) is an American academic administrator and evangelical minister. He was the seventh president of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

Early life and education Litfin was born on November 14, 1943. He holds an undergraduate degree in biblical studies from the Philadelphia College of Bible (now Cairn University) and a master's degree in theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. His two doctoral degrees are from Purdue University (communication) and Oxford (New Testament).

Career Litfin came to Wheaton College in 1993 from Memphis, Tennessee, where he served the First Evangelical Church as senior pastor. Prior to that, he was an associate professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. He also taught at Purdue University and Indiana University.

Litfin has authored several books and his writings have appeared in numerous journals and periodicals. His most recent book, Paul's Theology of Preaching, published in 2015, explores the Apostle Paul's vision of Christian ministry.

Litfin announced his retirement in March 2009. He was succeeded as president on July 1, 2010, by Philip Ryken, formerly senior pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia and a 1988 graduate of Wheaton.

Controversy During Litfin's time at Wheaton, multiple professors were fired due to a perceived lack of adherence to the college's statement of faith, including one professor who converted to Roman Catholicism and another who was critical of creationism.

In a major cultural change for the college, Litfin in 2003 presided over the lifting of the ban on dancing and eased its restrictions on tobacco and alcohol use.

An article in the SoMA review discusses some of the more controversial aspects of Litfin's tenure at Wheaton.

Personal life Litfin is married and has three children.

Selected publications