William J. Stauff

Erskine’s new Vice President for Finance and Operations William J. Stauff, who assumed his duties here earlier this month, has tried life in New England, life in the Midwest, and life in the city, but now is enjoying life in the small town South.

"Having lived in New England and the Midwest I find the South warm and the people here warm as well," Stauff said.

Erskine’s newest administrator’s return to the South harks back to his eight-year southern exposure at the University of Virginia. Coming to Due West from Minneapolis, Minn., where he worked for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), Stauff says he is enjoying the adjustment from a city to a more rural area and from a large organization to a small private college.

"In a large organization you don't have the intimacy that you would have in a small organization like Erskine. I already know many people by first name and anticipate getting to know many more for the long run," Stauff said.

But it’s not just the warm climate and the warm people that drew Stauff to Due West, he explains. "The challenge to make a difference in an institution like Erskine was another deciding factor in coming here."

With 20 years of experience at Harvard University and the University of Virginia, Stauff had been serving as director of administration for the international ministries division of BGEA immediately before his move to Erskine.

Stauff holds a master's degree in business administration as well as a doctorate in sacred theology, and he put both sorts of knowledge to work in his BGEA position. "I think my diverse background equipped me for work in the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association," said Stauff.

"For instance, in two projects in India, I worked with local businesses establishing contracts and procuring goods and services to accomplish our ministry. The reporting and the accounting of the project and the management of more than 70 people, both nationals and the team I brought with me, were also my responsibility.

"As the BGEA representative I was also responsible for conducting the counseling and training sessions as well as giving the invitation at the conclusion of the children's evangelistic rallies."

At Erskine, Stauff will have oversight of a broad range of financial, business and support operations, including facilities management, a $13.8 million annual institutional budget, and an institutional endowment of more than $35 million.

"I consider working at Erskine a ministry similar to the Billy Graham organization in that the job has both spiritual and secular (business) aspects," said Stauff. He quotes cleric William Law (1686-1761), author of A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, a book which had wide influence on the piety of its day and in succeeding generations, who said, " … worldly business is to be made holy unto the Lord, by being done as a service to Him, and in conformity to his Divine will."

Stauff and his wife Bert live in Abbeville. Their son is a recent college graduate and their daughter is currently attending college. Stauff says he and his family are enjoying the hummingbirds but are still fighting ants and tripping over boxes in their new home.