Three new members were appointed to ACU’s Board of Trustees last month: an accounting executive, a Memphis minister and the university’s former investment adviser.

Jack Rich was the president and chief investment officer of ACIMCO, the university’s investment management company, from 2006-23. He also held a variety of other positions, including executive vice president and vice president for business. During his time in administration, Rich grew the university’s endowment from $56 million to $700 million.

Larry Autrey retired last year as the executive chairman of Whitley Penn, a public accounting firm. During his 25 years working here, the company grew from a single market firm to the 34th largest in the country. He also serves on the university’s Athletic Advisory Committee and College of Business Administration Advisory Committee.

Josh Ross serves as the lead minister for Sycamore View Church of Christ in Memphis, Tennessee. He has written several books, including Coreology: Six Principles for Navigating an Election Season without Losing Your Witness, Scarred Faith and Bringing Heaven to Earth. He also serves on the board for Agape Child and Family Services in Memphis.

Will Beasley, chief of staff for Dr. Phil Schubert, president of the university, said the new trustees were chosen by the board for each of their unique backgrounds to provide diversity of knowledge and experience to the board.

“They look at demographics of the current board and areas we need to grow, they look at expertise,” Beasley said. “So there’s a good mix of people who are from health care careers, people who are from a technology background – so you get a good cross-section of all of the areas of potential employment expertise.”

The board members are chosen by the nomination governance committee, a subcommittee of the board of Trustees, which spends a year researching and choosing potential candidates. These new members will step into their roles and attend their first meeting this weekend.

He said the three new members’ specific experiences in business, higher education, Christian leadership and finance made them strong nominations for the board.

Alongside their professional experience, Beasley also said board members are expected to value faith in their careers and lives.

“The core of ACU is to educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world – that’s our mission,” Beasley said. “The people that have a strong faith foundation … those are the type of people you want as trustees.”

Rich said most universities in the United States began as Christian institutions, but many have strayed from that focus. He said he wants to keep ACU connected with its initial goal of being a faith-based institution.

“I think that’s really critical,” he said. “I think Abilene Christian has been committed to maintain that, and I think that will be one of the hardest things to do as you go forward into the future is to maintain that faith focus.”

Outside of his professional experience, Rich said one of his biggest motivations for continuing to help and improve the university is his 10 grandchildren.

“We were very blessed; our four kids went to Abilene Christian, and the three that are married met their spouses at Abilene Christian,” Rich said. “We hope many of our grandkids will attend Abilene Christian. It’s a place that was formational to my wife, and it’ll be formational for them so I’m invested in having a place where that can happen.”