Philip W. Eaton
Let me tell you a little about myself. In February 1996, I became the 9th president of Seattle Pacific University. Because of the people with whom I work, and the vision that guides our work together at this great university, I cannot imagine being more challenged and more fulfilled.
I grew up in a business family. My father was an entrepreneur of the old sort. Out of necessity and hard work and uncanny savvy, with a bunch of luck thrown in along the way, he built a business of taking mostly raw desert land in the Phoenix area and making it into something useful for a rapidly growing city. He was one of the pioneer developers in Phoenix. My older brother followed in these footsteps and successfully continues this work to this day.
I was a middle son. What do middle children do? They find their own unique and unexpected identity — and so I launched out on my own path and ended up with a Ph.D. in literature. “What in the world are you going to do with that,” my father asked me?
With an undergraduate degree from Whitworth College, I moved on to Arizona State University for my graduate work. I taught literature for seventeen years at Whitworth. This was a rich and meaningful time in my life and the life of my family. I loved my students. I loved the learning moments. I loved my subject matter — the penetrating insight into culture and the human family that literature provides.
At one point in my career I bolted from academic life and joined my father in his work in Phoenix for eight years, riding the wave of both boom and bust. My learning curve was steep in the beginning — how in the world does a Ph.D. in literature prepare you to make deals in commercial real estate? At least I knew I could write a good letter.
But now as I look back at those zigzags in my life—from great literature to business deals — I see, in some mysterious way, God was calling me forward toward something new.
Seattle Pacific is a flourishing Christian university. We seek to engage the culture and change the world through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This vision matters to me. We live and do our work in the sweep of God’s huge drama for his world. Our job, focusing the considerable tools of the university, is to bring grace and love and joy into the world so that all of God’s children might flourish. I work with extraordinary people at Seattle Pacific. Together we are trying to change the world.
Sharon and I have enjoyed a long and rich life together. We have three amazing sons, all married to wonderful women, and seven of the liveliest grandchildren you can imagine. Life is good, absolutely never boring. I thank God daily for the chance to bring hope into the world I serve.
