Office: Alumnae Hall 208
Phone: 540.568.5646
Fax: 540.568.8072

David C. Kirkpatrick is an accomplished university executive and tenured faculty member at James Madison University, where he has served as senior advisor to three presidents, and currently serves as Vice President and Chief of Staff and Secretary to the Board of Visitors. In this role, he oversees strategic planning, board relations, institutional research, local government and community affairs, and major cross-university initiatives that shape JMU’s future direction. Dr. Kirkpatrick has been a central architect of JMU’s transformation into one of the nation’s most dynamic public universities.

A scholar-administrator, Dr. Kirkpatrick brings a blend of academic expertise, strategic leadership, and operational execution. He has held multiple academic leadership roles, including associate department chair of the Department of Philosophy & Religion and executive director of the Madison Center for Civic Engagement, and he maintains an active research portfolio as a tenured associate professor. He completed his PhD at the University of Edinburgh and a postdoctoral fellowship at Florida State University.

Dr. Kirkpatrick is recognized nationally for his leadership in civic engagement, intellectual diversity, and campus culture development. He designed and implemented a university-wide ecosystem for freedom of expression at JMU that includes a signature deliberative dialogue program reaching every student, led fundraising and planning for a new civic living-learning complex, which integrates residential and academic life around intellectual diversity and democratic engagement ($24 million project), created a multi-college civic leadership curriculum, and launched a faculty fellows program advancing democratic skills across disciplines. JMU’s work in this area has become a national model for preparing students for civic life and the 21st century workplace.

Dr. Kirkpatrick has secured over $5 million in external funding together with his team—including a 2024 U.S. Department of State grant supporting global civic engagement—and has forged innovative partnerships with government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and international universities. His scholarship focuses on religion, politics, and social movements, and includes books with the University of Pennsylvania Press, Rutgers University Press, and Oxford University Press, and research featured in leading academic journals and national media outlets. He has delivered lectures and papers at Oxford, Cambridge, Emory, Princeton Theological Seminary, Marquette, Dartmouth, among others.

At JMU, Dr. Kirkpatrick co-chaired the university-wide AI task force, championed successful Carnegie Classification designations for both Community Engagement and Leadership for Public Purpose, and led the creation of JMU’s Veteran’s History Project. He is currently leading JMU’s university-wide strategic planning process, co-chairing the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost search, and guiding major institutional initiatives that position JMU for the next decade of growth and impact.

Selected Publications:

Blood and Borders: Violence, Latin America, and the Origins of the ‘Global War on Christians.’ Oxford University Press. 

Revise & resubmit.“Ward-heelers from the Underworld”: Violence, Intolerance, and Political Growth on Both Sides of the Rio Grande.” Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture (Oxford).

2023. “The Latin American Bullring: U.S. Evangelical Internationalism and Anti-Protestant Violence in Cold War Colombia.” Journal of American Studies (Cambridge), vol. 57, no. 4 (June): 513-539.

2023. Co-authored with Jason Bruner. “Intra-Christian Violence and the Problematization of the World Christian Paradigm.” Journal of Ecclesiastical History (Cambridge), vol. 74, no. 2 (April): 370-397.

2022. Global Visions of Violence: Agency and Persecution in World Christianity. Co-edited with Jason Bruner. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2022.

2022. Co-authored with Jason Bruner. “Intra-Christian Violence and the Problematization of the World Christian Paradigm.” Journal of Ecclesiastical History. 

Forthcoming. “The Historiographical Sweep of Latin American Evangelicalism” in Latin American Evangelicalism. Edited by David Bebbington. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2022.

Forthcoming. “Beneath the United States: Global Crime, Decolonization, and Evangelicals of Color” in Global Faith and Worldly Power: Evangelical Encounters with American Empire. Edited by John Corrigan, Melani McAlister, and Axel Schaeffer. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2022.

2021. “The Origins of Misión Integral in Post-War Latin America” In Global Voices: What Is Integral Mission? (Oxford: Oxford Centre for Mission Studies).

2021. C. René Padilla: Father of Integral Mission." Christianity Today, April 7. 

2019. “Globally many evangelicals lean left: what that means for America’s future.” Washington Post, August 30.

2019. A Gospel for the Poor: Global Social Christianity and the Latin American Evangelical Left. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

2019. “Reforming Fundamentalism in Latin America: Power, Politics and Paternalism in Univeridad Bíblica Latinoamericana.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion, vol. 87, no. 1 (March): 122-155.

2018. “American Protestant Foreign Missions after World War II” in Oxford Encyclopedia of American Religion, 25-37. Edited by John Corrigan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018).

2017. “Freedom from Fundamentalism: The Surprising Influence of Christian Brethrenism on the Rise of Latin American Social Christianity,” The Journal of World Christianity, Vol. 7, no. 2 (2017): 211-233. 

2017. “Parachurch Competition in the Latin American Religious Marketplace: Scriptural Inerrancy and the Reshaping of Global Protestant Evangelicalism,” inRelocating World Christianity:  Interdisciplinary Studies in Universal and Local Expressions of Christianity, p. 93-112. Edited by Joel Cabrita, David Maxwell, and Emma Wild-Wood.  Leiden: Brill, 2017.  

2016.  “C. René Padilla and the Origins of Integral Mission in Post-War Latin America.”  Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 67, No. 2 (April): 351-371.

Invited Lectures and Academic Presentations:  

“Measuring Affective Polarization.” Talk at Georgetown University in partnership with the Institute for Citizens and Scholars. April 2025.

“Every Student, Every Degree: From Vision to Full Participation—How Campus Leaders Are Making Civic Learning Both Inclusive and Transformative.” Panel at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) annual meeting. Washington D.C., January 2025.

“Bridging Political and Social Divides Through a University-Wide Deliberative Dialogue Program.” Georgetown University, in partnership with Claremont McKenna College and the Institute for Citizens and Scholars. January 2024.

“Educating for Democracy: Civic Engagement, Civic Literacy, and the National Imperative.” SACSCOC Annual Meeting. December 4, 2023.

“Mapping Civic Measurement.” President’s Consortium, Institute of Citizens & Scholars. Claremont McKenna College. May 2023.

“The Global Legacy of René Padilla.” Invited lecture at Emory University. October 2023.

“Blood and Borders: U.S. Evangelicalism, Anti-Catholicism, and the Reception of Violence from Cold War Colombia.” Bishop Walter F. Sullivan Endowed Lecture Series, Virginia Commonwealth University. April, 2022. 

“A Gospel for the Poor: Misión Integral in the Shadow of the Cold War.” Cambridge University Faculty of Divinity and Cambridge Center for Christianity Worldwide. February, 2022. 

“Ward-heelers from the Underworld”: Violence, Bigotry, and Growth at the Intersection of Latin America and the United States. American Academy of Religion. San Antonio, TX. November, 2021.

 “A Gospel for the Poor: René Padilla and the Reshaping of Global Evangelicalism.” The Billy Graham Center Archival Research Lecture, Wheaton College, October 2021.

“Beneath the United States: Evangelicals of Color and Global Decolonization.” Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. Workshop on Christianity and Decolonization, September, 2021. Proceedings published by University of Pennsylvania Press.

“New Directions in the Study of the Religious Left.” Roundtable organizer and presenter at the American Society of Church History in New Orleans. April, 2021 (postponed due to COVID-19).

“Ward-heelers from the Underworld”: Violence, Bigotry, and Growth at the Intersection of U.S. and Latin American Evangelicalism.” Panel organizer of “Thinking about World Christianity: Power, Politics, and Violence.” Princeton Theological Seminary’s World Christianity Conference. March, 2021.

 “The Latin American Bullring: Billy Graham, John F. Kennedy, and the Origins of the ‘Global War on Christians’ in Latin America.” American Academy of Religion Winter Conference. November, 2020.

 “Beneath the United States: Global Crime, Decolonization, and the Latin American Evangelical Left.” Paper presented at the American Academy of Religion (AAR), San Diego, CA. November, 2019.

 “Crossing Borders: Intellectual Exchange and the Kingdom of God Motif.” Panel title: “Socio-Economic Marginality, and Latin American Biblical Hermeneutics.” Paper presented at the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), San Diego, CA. November, 2019.

 “‘Revolutionary Ferment:’ Global Evangelicalism in the Shadow of the Cold War.” Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI. April, 2019.

 “‘Revolutionary Ferment’: Migration, Dependency, and the Evangelical Left at the Latin American University.” Paper presented at the American Historical Association, Chicago IL. January 2019. 

 “New Directions in Social Christianity and American Global Consciousness.” Roundtable organizer and paper at the American Society of Church History, Chicago, IL. January 2019.

 “Violence and New Religious Movements: Disaggregating Hemispheric Boundaries in American Fundamentalism.” Paper presented at the American Academy of Religion, Denver, CO. November 2018. 

 “Crossing Boundaries: Intellectual Exchange in Latin American Social Christianities.” Paper presented at the American Academy of Religion, Denver, CO. November 2018.

“A Child That Refuses to Recognize Her Mommy:” Power, Paternalism, and the Latin American Evangelical Left.” Invited paper presented at the Obama Institute of Transnational Studies Conference on Evangelicals and Empire. Mainz, Germany. October 2018.

 “Reframing Latin American Protestantism: Violence and New Religious Movements.” Organizer and paper presented in roundtable format, Princeton Theological Seminary, Currents, Perspectives, and Methodologies in World Christianity Conference, Princeton, NJ. January 2018. 

 “Reforming Fundamentalism in Latin America: A Transnational Account.” Paper presented at the American Historical Association/American Society of Church History, Denver, CO. January 2017.

“Good News for the Poor: Latin America and the Rise of Integral Mission in Global Evangelicalism.” Invited lecture, Asbury Theological Seminary, KY. April 2017.

 “Fundamentalism and Latin American Culture: A Transnational Account .” The University of Edinburgh, Faculty of History, Global and Transnational History Group. March 2016.

“‘Trembling with Indignation’: Rivalry, Reform, and Latin American Theological Independence.” Panel organizer and conference paper of “Reforming World Christianity: Conflict, Negotiation, and National Leadership.” American Society of Church History, Atlanta, GA, January 2016.

 “Trembling with Indignation: Transnational Competition and Currency in the Latin American Religious Marketplace.” University of Edinburgh, Centre for the Study of World Christianity, October 2015.

 “Beyond Liberal Vs. Conservative: Latin American Liberation Theology, Evangelical Protestantism, and Ecumenism in the Postwar Period.” University of Cambridge, Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge Center for Christianity Worldwide, May 2015.

 “‘The Other Spanish Christ’: The Influence of John A. Mackay on René Padilla and Integral Mission.” Paper presented at the University of Edinburgh, Centre for the Study of World Christianity, March 2015.

 “Crossing Boundaries in Buenos Aires: René Padilla, José Míguez Bonino, and Theological Exchange within Latin American Protestantism.” Paper presented at the American Society of Church History, New York City, NY, January 2015.

“Beyond Catholic Vs. Protestant: Latin American Liberation Theology, Evangelical Protestantism, and Ecumenism in the Postwar Period.” Invited lecture at Oxford University, Centre for Global History, November 2014.                      

 “The Widening of Christian Mission: C. René Padilla and the Origins of Integral Mission.” Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, July 2014.

“‘I Married Latin America—I Don’t Want to Divorce:’ Catharine Padilla and the Missionary Family.” Paper presented at the Yale-Edinburgh World Christianity Scholar Group, June 2014.

 “Revolutionary Ferment and the Latin American University: Migration, Radicalism, and the Origins of Integral Mission.” Paper presented at the Oxford Joint-Gathering of the Ecclesiastical History Society and American Society of Church History, Oxford, UK, April 2014.

  “Revolutionary Ferment in Latin American Universities: C. René Padilla and the Origins of Integral Mission.” Paper presented to the University of Edinburgh, Centre for the Study of World Christianity, December 2013.