Baptist named to senior government position

Baptist World Alliance

Washington, D.C. - Thomas Corts, former president of the Baptist-affiliated Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., and a member of the General Council of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), has been appointed by the United States government to coordinate U.S. foreign aid efforts to support education around the world.

First Lady Laura Bush announced the appointment of Corts in late September.

Corts, who also served as executive director of the International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities, which represents 52 Baptist higher learning institutions, is expected to work out of the Washington, D.C. office of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and will oversee an annual budget of close to $1 billion.

The foreign aid education programs are administered through USAID and coordinated with the State Department, the Department of Education, and other agencies, with focus on education programs in developing countries.

The 65-year-old lifelong Baptist educator is also a member of the BWA Study and Research Executive Committee, the Academic and Theological Education Workgroup, and the Baptist Heritage and Identity Study Commission.