Randal R. Wisbey became La Sierra University’s third president on July 1, 2007. He came to his position from his post as president of Columbia Union College, Takoma Park, MD, a position he has held since 2000.

La Sierra University’s Board of Trustees offered the position to Wisbey following a search process established in November 2006, when Geraty notified the board of his intention to retire at the end of the current academic year. Wisbey announced his decision to the Columbia Union College and La Sierra University campus groups via email on March 9.

“It was exciting to see, first hand, the strength of the university’s faculty and staff, the quality of its current students, the legacy of its graduates, the commitment to be a central part of the Inland Empire community and the university’s bold vision of serving the world,” Wisbey says of the Riverside campus.

At Columbia Union College, Dr. Wisbey worked with his administrative team to develop new systems and programs to better serve students, including a new enrollment strategy that has had significant results in both attracting students to the campus and retaining them (Fall 2004 saw the largest enrollment of freshman since 1965, and, its current overall enrollment is one of the largest enrollments in the College’s history). During his time at the College, Dr. Wisbey has overseen the development of the College’s five-year strategic plan, the renewal of its women’s residence hall, and the  development of a new campus-wide technology program. Having just celebrated the College’s Centennial, the campus community is also looking to the future with plans for further significant campus renewal, including the building of a much needed Music  Education Building which will allow the College to better serve its students and faculty, as well as the surrounding Washington, D.C., community.  

Prior to his presidency at the College, Dr. Wisbey served for two years as president of Canadian University College in western Canada.  During his work on that campus, the University College enrollment grew by nearly a third, and the institution focused its  efforts on a new strategic future, and furthered the mission of the University College by intentionally reaching out to students in eastern Canada and from throughout the United States.  

Before his work as an Adventist college president, Dr. Wisbey served as Associate Professor of Youth Ministry at the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University in  Berrien Springs, Michigan.  He also developed and championed the new Master’s of Arts in Youth Ministry program at the Seminary there.    

His primary areas of interest and academic expertise include youth and young adult ministry, generational studies, contemporary youth culture and the inherent opportunities provided for transformational ministry within the culture. Beyond his significant  involvement in youth and young adult ministries, Dr. Wisbey also has additional interest and notable experience in the arenas of personal and corporate spiritual formation. During his time at the SDA Theological Seminary, Dr. Wisbey built upon the legacy of the Youth Resource Center by creating and serving as the first director of the Center for Youth Evangelism.  He was also creator and editor of Giraffe News, the quarterly  publication of the Center for Youth Evangelism, and also developed the Center’s Giraffe Society, a pro-active youth ministry organization.

Before coming to the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University, Dr. Wisbey served from 1985-1991 at Columbia Union College, including work as an Assistant  Professor of Christian Ministry, as Columbia Union College Chaplain and as Associate Pastor at Sligo Church in Takoma Park, Maryland.  Early in his career, he also served as a pastor in two congregations in Oregon.  

While enrolled at Walla Walla College, a year as a student missionary in East Jerusalem and Ramallah, Israel, teaching English to Palestinian high school students, played a  formative role in Wisbey’s understanding of the power and significance service-based youth ministry.  

Wisbey received his Doctor of Ministry degree in 1990 from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC.  His dissertation, Collegiate Missions in the Context of Short-Term Mission Experiences, considered the role young adults play in mission.  He  also earned a Master of Divinity degree from the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University in 1984 and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology and Journalism at Walla Walla College in 1980.  He is an ordained minister of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.  

Wisbey has contributed chapters to several books, including A Reason to Believe and Walking on the Edge, as well as Adventist Mission in the 21 st Century.  Andrews University Press published his historical study of Adventist women in ministry from 1970  to the present as part of the SDA Theological Seminary’s book Women in Ministry: Biblical and Historical Perspectives. A journal article co-authored with Dr. Roger Dudley that considered  “The Relationship of Parenting Styles to Commitment to the  Church Among Young Adults” was published in Religious Education.  This chapter was also presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion.   

He is married to Deanna Clay Wisbey, former assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Andrews University and current adjunct professor in the Department of Communication at Columbia Union College.  Their son, Alexander, is 18 years old  and is enrolling as a freshman at La Sierra University (fall 2007).  As a family, the Wisbeys have enjoyed traveling throughout Europe, Israel and Egypt, Australia and New Zealand, Central and South America.  Most recently, Dr. Wisbey had the privilege of traveling  throughout India as he visited Spicer College and the Adventist College of Professional Studies in Surat.    

Dr. Wisbey and his family have had a strong and career-long commitment to the learning communities that make up the Adventist higher education system. They enjoy and are invigorated by the opportunities these learning communities consistently provide for  wholistic, dynamic and life-changing educational experiences for each of the students who learn and the faculty and staff who lead them within these Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities.

Dr. Randal R. Wisbey's Speeches and Addresses

President's Address
La Sierra University Fall Faculty Colloquium
Living Art (PDF file help)
September 17, 2007