Some leaders are recruited. Some are appointed. And some, in the way that feels almost inevitable in hindsight, come home.
Linda Livingstone first arrived at Baylor University in 1991, a young academic beginning what would become a distinguished career in business education. She joined Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business, earned tenure, and served as Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, building a foundation of loyalty to the institution that time and distance would not diminish.
She went on to lead the business schools at two prominent universities: Pepperdine University and George Washington University, sharpening her skills as a dean and deepening her understanding of what it means to lead at scale. Then, in 2017, she returned to Waco, not as a faculty member this time, but as the 15th president of Baylor University.
The arc of that journey, from faculty member to president of the very institution where her career began, says something quiet and important about who Dr. Livingstone is.
A Vision Called Illuminate
When Dr. Livingstone stepped into the presidency in 2017, Baylor had ambitions that needed a coherent strategy behind them. She responded with Illuminate, a strategic plan that ran from 2018 to 2023 and provided the first structured foundation for Baylor’s aspiration to become America’s preeminent Christian research university.
The goals of Illuminate were serious, and the results were consequential. Under its framework, Baylor achieved something that many universities spend decades pursuing: it was designated a Research I University, placing it among the nation’s most research-intensive institutions. Research I status is not given lightly. It is earned, through sustained investment, faculty productivity, doctoral education, and a commitment to inquiry that runs through every part of an institution’s culture.
Illuminate gave Dr. Livingstone’s presidency its early shape. What came next would define its ambition.
Give Light and a Record-Breaking Campaign
Numbers in higher education fundraising can feel abstract until you place them in context. Baylor’s Give Light fundraising campaign surpassed $1.5 billion, making it the most successful fundraising campaign in the University’s history. That figure represents thousands of individual decisions by donors who believed in Baylor’s direction, its leadership, and the vision Dr. Livingstone had articulated and pursued with consistency and conviction.
The campaign’s name carries its own meaning, a phrase rooted in Baylor’s Christian mission and identity, and it reflects the kind of institution Dr. Livingstone has worked to build: one where faith and intellectual ambition are not in tension but are, in fact, inseparable.
Baylor in Deeds: The Next Chapter
A lesser leader might have paused after achieving the Research I designation and surpassing a billion-dollar fundraising milestone. Dr. Livingstone did not pause.
In 2024, she launched Baylor’s second strategic plan under her leadership, titled Baylor in Deeds. Where Illuminate built the foundation, Baylor in Deeds commits the University to action, to making its values visible not merely in statements but in the concrete, daily work of an institution that takes its mission seriously.
Baylor in Deeds represents an ongoing commitment to Baylor’s aspiration at every level of the University’s life, from research and teaching to community engagement and Christian witness.
Leading Beyond the Campus
Dr. Livingstone’s influence does not stop at the edge of Baylor’s campus in Waco. She has built a profile of national leadership in higher education governance that reflects both the breadth of her experience and the depth of her credibility among peers.
She currently serves as Chair of the NCAA Board of Governors, a role that places her at the center of American collegiate athletics governance at a moment when that world is navigating some of its most significant changes in history. She also serves as Chair of the Big 12 Conference Board of Directors and as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Council on Education.
These are not honorary roles. They are working positions that carry real responsibility, and they signal something meaningful about the regard in which Dr. Livingstone is held by the broader higher education community.
From Oklahoma to the World
Linda Livingstone was born and raised in Perkins, Oklahoma. She played varsity basketball at Oklahoma State University, where she earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. The discipline and competitiveness of an athlete do not vanish when a career moves into academia. They tend, instead, to find new expressions.
At Oklahoma State, she met her husband, Brad, who went on to become a high school history teacher at Vanguard College Preparatory School. Their daughter, Shelby, is a graduate of both Rice University and Baylor’s Truett Theological Seminary, and serves today as an Assistant Volleyball Coach for Baylor University, a detail that brings Baylor’s story full circle in the most personal possible way. Shelby married her husband, Kyle, in May.
What It Means to Lead with Conviction
There are universities that chase rankings, and there are universities that pursue a calling. Baylor, under Dr. Livingstone’s leadership, is firmly in the second category. The aspiration to become America’s preeminent Christian research university is a bold claim, and it is one that she has backed not with rhetoric alone but with strategy, resources, and results.
Research I designation. A $1.5 billion campaign. Two strategic plans. National governance leadership. A career that began at Baylor in 1991 and returned to its highest office in 2017.
Dr. Linda Livingstone is not building a legacy. She is building a university. And the difference, in her case, is everything.
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