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On January 13, 2026, Liberty University announced a historic $1 million gift that will establish the first endowed chair in the institution’s history. The new position will be housed in the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity and Liberty Theological Seminary, marking a major academic milestone for an NCAA Division I university better known nationally for its athletic profile.
The gift comes from the estate of Dr. Steven Johnson of Mankato, Minnesota, and is given in memory of his late wife, Dr. Michelle Johnson, a three-time Liberty graduate whose academic journey with the university spanned more than a decade. The endowed chair will fund a permanent, full-time faculty position dedicated to advancing rigorous evangelical scholarship, with the inaugural chairholder to be named later in 2026.
University officials have described the $1 million gift as a turning point for Liberty’s academic identity. While Liberty’s growth has often been framed through the lens of its football stadium, nationally televised games, and rise as an FBS program, this announcement underscores a parallel story: the maturation of its research and scholarly profile.
The endowment will be professionally invested as part of Liberty University’s broader portfolio, with annual proceeds used to subsidize both the salary and academic work of the faculty member who holds the chair. By design, the position is meant to be permanent, ensuring a stable stream of support for teaching, mentoring, and scholarship within Liberty Theological Seminary.
In the world of higher education, endowed chairs are widely regarded as one of the clearest indicators of academic maturity. According to the American Council on Education, endowed professorships help institutions attract and retain high-caliber scholars, support long-term research agendas, and stabilize academic programs through economic cycles (https://www.acenet.edu/). For Liberty, which has rapidly expanded from its origins as a small Christian college into one of the world’s largest Christian universities, this first endowed chair signals that its divinity programs are entering a new phase.
The endowed chair is also a deeply personal tribute. It is named in honor of Michelle Johnson, whose relationship with Liberty University blended online study, on-campus intensive coursework, and years of dissertation research in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Over more than a decade, Johnson completed three degrees at Liberty:
She initially enrolled through Liberty University Online Programs, later transitioning to on-campus intensives that brought her regularly to Lynchburg and to the Rawlings School of Divinity’s Freedom Tower. Her academic work culminated in a Ph.D. focused on theology and apologetics, a discipline that sits at the heart of Liberty’s mission to unite intellectual rigor with evangelical Christian conviction.
Tragically, the high point of her academic journey was almost immediately followed by heartbreaking news. Shortly after walking in Liberty’s 2023 School of Divinity degree presentation ceremony, Michelle was diagnosed with cancer. Her doctorate had been officially conferred just four days before the diagnosis. Her husband, Steven, retired from a 36-year career as a dentist to care for her full-time during the final year and a half of her life. She died on November 17, 2024, at age 56, exactly 22 years after the couple’s first date.
The new endowed chair is explicitly designed to turn that story of dedication, sacrifice, and faith into a lasting academic legacy. Instead of simply endowing a scholarship or making a one-time gift, Steven Johnson chose a mechanism that will carry his wife’s love for Scripture and theology into classrooms and seminar rooms for generations to come.
Michelle Johnson’s impact at Liberty University went beyond her coursework. She developed close relationships with professors and fellow students, particularly in the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity and across the broader campus community.
Among those friends was modern languages and global engagement professor Sherene Khouri, who knew Michelle not only as a student but also as a colleague and dear friend. Khouri’s reflections on Michelle emphasize a blend of academic seriousness and deep personal faith, qualities that the new endowed chair is intended to foster in future scholars.
Outside the university, Michelle served as vice president and executive editor for Bellator Christi Ministries. In that role she co-authored two works of popular theology:
These titles reflect the same concerns that ultimately shaped the Johnsons’ decision to endow a chair: a conviction that Christians should be equipped with thoughtful, informed responses to big questions about faith, the Bible, and origins. The endowed position at Liberty Theological Seminary is likely to resonate with similar themes, supporting faculty who can bridge rigorous scholarship and accessible ministry training.
For Liberty’s academic leadership, the Johnson gift represents a watershed moment. School of Divinity dean Troy Temple described it as the first endowed chair in the history of both Liberty University and Liberty Theological Seminary. That distinction matters: endowed chairs are commonplace at long-established research universities, but far less common at younger institutions, especially those that have prioritized rapid enrollment growth and campus expansion.
Temple emphasized that the fund will strengthen the school’s ability to equip pastors, scholars, and ministry leaders with a robust biblical foundation. That mission is deeply tied to Liberty’s founding purpose as a Christian institution and to the Rawlings School of Divinity’s identity as one of the largest divinity schools in the world (https://www.liberty.edu/divinity/).
Provost and chief academic officer Scott Hicks echoed that perspective, noting that the endowment will help sustain Christ-centered scholarship at Liberty for generations of divinity students. Rather than supporting a specific program that might shift over time, the endowed chair stabilizes a faculty position dedicated to biblical and theological studies, even as curricula and educational delivery models evolve.
For prospective students, including high schoolers and transfers who might first discover Liberty through its athletics, an endowed chair in theology sends several important signals about the academic environment they will encounter.
Endowed chairs in higher education typically:
For student-athletes who come to Liberty as part of an NCAA Division I program but also want a serious theological education, this chair reinforces that the Rawlings School of Divinity and Liberty Theological Seminary are core to the university’s long-term strategy. It complements the visible investments in facilities, such as the Freedom Tower, that already signal the centrality of ministry training on campus (https://catalog.liberty.edu/graduate/about-liberty/introduction-campus/).
Students who are exploring faith-focused programs at multiple schools can compare endowed positions, faculty credentials, and research opportunities across institutions. Tools like the Pathley College Directory help families quickly survey options, then drill into specific programs like Liberty’s School of Divinity to see how gifts like the Johnson endowment translate into day-to-day academic life.
Steven Johnson has said that the idea of an endowed chair first emerged in conversations with his wife before her death. Both were concerned about what they saw as an erosion of confidence in the authority of Scripture within some theology programs. They wanted their legacy to support a university they viewed as firmly committed to biblical authority and conservative evangelical doctrine.
In Johnson’s assessment, Liberty provided exactly that kind of environment. The Freedom Tower complex, which houses the Rawlings School of Divinity, became both a symbolic and practical focus for their vision. Rising near the center of campus, it has become one of Liberty’s defining architectural features and a physical reminder that ministry training sits at the heart of the university’s mission.
In November 2025, Steven Johnson traveled to Lynchburg for a multi-day visit that functioned as both a personal pilgrimage and a due diligence trip. During that visit, he:
That experience, he later said, confirmed his sense that “the spirit of God is moving at Liberty.” The campus atmosphere, the integration of faith and learning, and the leadership’s commitment to Liberty’s mission convinced him that the endowed chair would be a wise and faithful extension of the couple’s shared priorities.
Johnson expressed a specific hope that the theology department and the programs centered in Freedom Tower would continue helping students strengthen their faith day by day. With the endowment now in place, Liberty’s leadership believes that hope will be translated into ongoing financial support for teaching, mentoring, and research.
For students walking across Liberty’s campus, Freedom Tower is impossible to miss. The structure houses the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity and serves as a visual centerpiece for the university, rising over academic buildings and athletic facilities alike. For many recruits and families taking campus tours, the tower is the first clear signal that ministry preparation is not a niche program, but a defining feature of the institution.
The Johnson endowed chair effectively “roots” a permanent faculty role in that space. While the future chairholder has not yet been named, the contours of the job are clear: teach students, mentor future pastors and scholars, and contribute to evangelical scholarship in line with Liberty’s doctrinal commitments.
In combination with the school’s size and range of programs, this kind of targeted support can help Liberty compete not just on facilities and enrollment statistics, but on academic depth. For students considering theological study at Liberty, it means greater likelihood of stable course offerings, faculty mentorship, and research projects that carry on Michelle Johnson’s passion for theological clarity and apologetics.
Liberty University has grown rapidly since its founding in 1971, expanding from a small Bible college into a large, comprehensive Christian university that offers hundreds of academic programs. It is now widely recognized for its online education, its FBS football program, and its status as one of the world’s largest Christian universities (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_University).
However, as institutions grow, a key question emerges: how will they deepen, not just broaden, their academic offerings? Endowed chairs are one of the clearest answers. They:
In that context, the Johnson chair is more than a generous gift; it is an institutional milestone. It places the Rawlings School of Divinity and Liberty Theological Seminary at the center of Liberty’s academic evolution and provides a model for future donors who might want to support additional chairs in theology, biblical studies, or other disciplines across campus.
For current and future students called to ministry, the impact of the endowed chair will be felt in multiple ways, even if they never meet the Johnsons personally.
Students can expect:
For churches and ministries that partner with Liberty, the endowed chair reinforces the university’s role as a training ground for pastors and scholars who combine academic excellence with deep faith. It aligns with Liberty’s stated aim of developing “Champions for Christ” who can bring thoughtful, biblically grounded leadership into congregations, classrooms, and cultural conversations.
For prospective students and families comparing options, tools like Pathley Chat can help clarify how an academic asset like an endowed chair fits into the broader picture: faculty credentials, course offerings, campus culture, and post-graduation opportunities.
Students drawn to the Lynchburg area for its Christian community, collegiate environment, or proximity to Liberty University might also want to look at other local institutions to build a well-rounded college list.
Exploring multiple colleges in the same city can help students compare campus size, academic strengths, and spiritual climate. The Pathley College Directory is a useful starting point to see how these schools line up on academics, cost, and campus life before narrowing down visit and application plans.
The Johnson endowed chair at Liberty University is, at its core, a story about how one family’s experience with a university can shape the lives of students they will never meet. Michelle Johnson’s years of study, her relationships with professors and peers, and her final months of faithful perseverance all converge in a single, strategic gift.
For Liberty, it is a public statement that the institution’s future will be measured not only by stadium capacity or enrollment numbers, but also by the quality and permanence of its academic leadership. For students, especially those drawn to ministry and theological study, it promises an environment where serious scholarship and deep conviction are not competing values, but shared expectations.
As high school students, transfers, and graduate applicants think about where to pursue their calling, this story offers a reminder: behind every campus tour and program description are people whose sacrifices and generosity shape the education they will receive. Using tools like Pathley’s free college-matching and recruiting tools, students can explore colleges like Liberty, compare programs, and identify where gifts like the Johnson endowed chair create the kind of academic and spiritual environment they are seeking.
At Liberty University, that environment now includes its first-ever endowed chair, standing as both a memorial to Dr. Michelle Johnson and a promise to future generations of pastors, scholars, and ministry leaders who will study under its influence.
