University of the Ozarks President Richard Dunsworth, J.D., has been elected to the board of directors for the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities (APCU)

Dunsworth’s three-year term begins immediately on the board of the independent, non-profit association that is dedicated to assisting the more than 50 Presbyterian-affiliated colleges and universities throughout the U.S.

“I am honored to have been elected to serve as a director for the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities,” Dunsworth said. “The Presbyterian Church in its many forms and iterations has played a significant role in the landscape of higher education. The APCU serves as an additional link between our 56-member organization and the presidents and chaplains who have been called to serve them. Having recently renewed our covenant with the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), I believe I have a realistic view of our collective reality. I look forward to exploring ways we can continue to serve our Lord Jesus Christ and each other as we grow and develop as people and as organizations, but ultimately, as the body of Christ.”

University of the Ozarks has been affiliated with the Presbyterian Church since it was founded by Cumberland Presbyterians in 1834 in Cane Hill, Arkansas.

John Comerford, president of Blackburn College, was selected to serve as the APCU chair-elect for 2017-18.

As part of its mission, the APCU advocates the important, ongoing role that higher education plays within the Presbyterian Church (USA) and assists presidents in the development of strategies that fulfill their respective institutional missions.  APCU member institutions are eligible to participate in APCU-sponsored programs that include an insurance and risk management program, an international student exchange with institutions in Northern Ireland and a tuition exchange for children of faculty and staff members.