Seattle Pacific board hires new president

Last week, the Seattle Pacific University Board of Trustees unanimously elected Dr. Deana Porterfield, president of Roberts Wesleyan University and Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan University in Rochester, N.Y., to serve as the university’s next president.

According to a news release from SPU, Porterfield will be the 12th president in the university’s 132-year history. Her first day will be July 1.

She succeeds Interim President Pete Menjares, who was appointed to serve temporarily after previous President Dr. Daniel Martin resigned in April 2021 after nine years at SPU.

SPU Board of Trustees Chairman Dean Kato said in the release by SPU that he was pleased to welcome Porterfield as the next president.

“She comes with a lifetime of work in Christian higher education and is not only a demonstrated leader in enrollment, fundraising and new program development, but is also passionate about building relationships with students and community partners,” Kato said.

Porterfield was selected after a national search that began last July. She will be the first female president of SPU.

“As an academic community, SPU has always led the way, bringing new insights and thoughtful discussion to complex conversations that face us in our society,” Porterfield said in the announcement. “The work needed to take on the challenges ahead begins with us, and I look forward to partnering with the SPU community in prayer, deep hope and confidence that we can move SPU forward.”

According to the SPU announcement, Porterfield has more than 35 years of experience in Christian higher education and has served almost nine years as president of Roberts Wesleyan. Porterfield has been an active leader within Rochester and in higher education. She serves on several boards and has been recognized with numerous awards for community and organizational leadership, according to the press release. She is the 11th president of Roberts and third president of Northeastern Seminary. She earned a doctorate in organizational leadership from the University of La Verne (Calif.), a master’s degree in organizational management and a bachelor's degree in music education from Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California.

According to the release, like Seattle Pacific University, Roberts Wesleyan is a Christian university affiliated with the Free Methodist Church of North America. Roberts was the first educational institution established by the Free Methodists in 1866. SPU was founded in 1891.