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ITC's President
Michael A. Battle, the 7th
president of the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is a
rare combination of a theologically well-trained educator, a
spirit-led servant leader and a preacher who addresses the needs of
the 21st century.
His training includes having earned the Bachelor of Arts degree from
Trinity College, the Master of Divinity degree from Duke University,
and the Doctor of Ministry degree from Howard University.
Dr. Battle has been a
successful administrator for some of the nation’s finest
institutions of higher education including Chicago State University,
Virginia State University, and Hampton University, where he was also
pastor to The Hampton University Memorial Church and concurrently
served as Executive Secretary/Treasurer of the Hampton University
Ministers’ Conference, the nation’s largest interdenominational
conference among African American clergy. He served for 20 years as
a Chaplain in the United States Army Reserve, and after key
assignments from Battalion to Division Level, retired with many
military honors and the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1997.
Currently, Dr. Battle is
leading the ITC in a ten year Strategic Plan that is giving
direction to the total operation of the institution to 2014. The
community has reveled in its history during the 2007-2008 academic
year with the celebration of ITC's 50th Anniversary
and a Half Century of Ecumenism in Action. The campus is
more vibrant with three institutional foci to include TheoEcology®,
blending faith with environmental conservation, producing a green
consciousness toward creating a new “Eden”; efforts to address the
genocide in Darfur, Sudan; and creating more open conversation among
people of faith to effectively address HIV/AIDS and its effects on
the African American community.
Among many notable achievements, Dr. Battle has to his credit
serving as Vice President of the American Committee on Africa from
1994-1998, participation as an Election Observer in 1994 for the
first Free Election in South Africa, and liaison between the Hampton
University Ministers’ Conference and The South African Council of
Churches. He currently serves as chair of The Robert W. Woodruff
Library of The Atlanta University Center, is a member of the UNCF
Institutional Board of Directors, the Atlanta Rotary Club, 100 Black
Men of Atlanta, and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Congressional Forum Steering committee. He holds positions on the
Atlanta Regional Council of Churches, Atlanta Urban League, the
Atlanta Fulton Family Connection; member of the 2008 Class of
Leadership Atlanta, member of the CF Foundation Board of Advisors,
and serves on the Board of Commissioners for the Commission on
Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and has been
elected to the 2012 Class of the Association for Theological Schools
in the U.S. and Canada (ATS) Board of Directors. Dr. Battle holds
lifetime membership in the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP) and the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC).
Among his numerous awards and honors are being selected a 2004
Historymaker and induction into the Martin Luther King Jr. Board
of Preachers of Morehouse College; the 2006-2007 M. Agnes Jones
Salute to Greatness Hero; and, received the 2007 President’s Award
from Concerned Black Clergy of Metropolitan Atlanta, Inc.
Dr. Battle has authored
books and publications on topics related to ecumenism and the Black
church. Among them are: “Hampton and Black Ecumenism”; The
African American Pulpit; “The Historical Significance of The
Hampton University Ministers’ Conference”; “Because”: A Devotional
Commentary on Psalms 40; The African American Devotional Bible;
“Unity Assures Strength”; From One Brother To Another;
“The Dynamic Tension In The Black Church”; Heritage: African
American Readings for Writing; The History of the Hampton University
Ministers’ Conference: An Experience in Interdenominational
Cooperation; The African American Church at Work ; “How
Far Have We Come Since King”; The Journal of Black Sacred
Music; “The Kerygmatic Ministry of Black Sermon and Song”;
The Journal of Black Sacred Music; Voices of Experience; and
“Liberation According to Martin Luther King and James Cone.” He
was contributing author for “What Does It Mean to Be Black
and Christian; Introduction to Wisdom of the Sage: Conversations
with the A.C.D. Vaughn Senior Statesmen, 1996-2005 Hampton
University Ministers’ Conference; and contributing writer for The
Unique Issues for Racial/Ethnic Presidents in A Handbook for
Seminary Presidents, editors G. Douglass Lewis & Lovett H. Weems
Jr.
Dr. Battle is married to the former Linda Ann McClure. They have
three grown children, Michael Jr. (Shaunte), Lisa Angela, and Martin
Luther (Melissa), and three grandchildren.
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