Dr. Cory Hines

Cory Hines, Ph.D., was named the 20th President of Howard Payne University at a special meeting of HPU’s Board of Trustees on March 18, 2019. Though his first official day in office was scheduled for April 1, he was so eager to begin work that he returned to campus the weekend of March 23 to participate in various campus activities.

An alumnus of HPU, Dr. Hines has a great appreciation for his alma mater’s 130-year history and a deep commitment to its ongoing vitality.

“Looking to the future, HPU remains committed to developing students academically, vocationally and spiritually,” Dr. Hines says. “My hope is that this university would be a place where each student can understand how the words of Ephesians 2:10 relate to them – ‘For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.’”

Dr. Hines, a native of Gainesville, Texas, earned the Bachelor of Arts degree in religious education from HPU in 1997. He pursued graduate work at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he earned the Master of Arts degree in Christian education in 2000, and Dallas Baptist University, where he earned the Doctor of Philosophy degree in leadership studies – higher education in 2012.

Prior to his return to HPU, Dr. Hines served as an administrator at Dallas Baptist University. During his years at DBU, he held various leadership roles as vice president in the areas of enrollment, advancement, graduate affairs, external affairs, and alumni and community relations. He also taught at DBU and provided leadership in the creation of several graduate programs there. His professional experience also includes full-time ministry, having served as executive pastor and student pastor at Ferris Avenue Baptist Church (now The Avenue Church) in Waxahachie.

Dr. Hines and his wife, Melinda, have two children, Mackenzie and Caleb.

The Hines family relocated from Waxahachie to Brownwood. They found a welcoming new community awaiting them and are eagerly putting down roots.

“We’re glad to be here,” Dr. Hines says. “I’ve loved Brownwood, Early and this part of Texas since my time as an HPU student, and I’m enjoying the experience of helping my family get better acquainted with the area. People at HPU and around town couldn’t be friendlier or more supportive.”

Returning to HPU, Dr. Hines recalls his own experience as a first-time visitor to the HPU campus nearly 30 years ago.

“When I set foot on this campus in the fall of 1992 as a prospective student,” he says, “I was welcomed and made to feel right at home. When new students step on this campus, they will know what I knew then – HPU is a place where they can feel welcomed, loved and shepherded. This is a place where professors care, where staff support students, where peers look to grow alongside one another and where alumni are cheering on current students to the finish line.”