July 29, 2024
John Wells, who served as president of Methodist Church-affiliated Emory & Henry College in Virginia, will join Lake Junaluska as director of advancement effective Aug. 1.
“We are excited to welcome John to the Lake Junaluska community to lead our advancement opportunities. He has extensive fundraising experience, has served in leadership roles in The United Methodist Church, and has a historic connection to this special place,” said Ken Howle, executive director of Lake Junaluska.
“John possesses a deep understanding of Lake Junaluska and our mission of providing transformational experiences,” said Howle. “He has an impressive track record of leading fundraising efforts at several institutions throughout his career. These traits will serve him well in helping grow the philanthropic support that will enable Lake Junaluska to continue to be a beacon of hope and a place of rest and renewal.”
As president of Emory & Henry College for the past five years, Wells has overseen dramatic growth in student enrollment, the addition of campus facilities, improvement of reputational measures, fundraising increases, development of new academic offerings and upgrades to the college’s intercollegiate athletics program.
Wells initially joined Emory & Henry as provost in 2017. He served for seven years as executive vice president and chief academic officer at Mars Hill University and for four years as provost of United Methodist-affiliated Young Harris College in northeastern Georgia, serving for a year as the college’s interim president. He previously was a member of the political science faculty at Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tennessee.
In addition to his career in academia, Wells has held several positions with the United Methodist Church, including associate general secretary for the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the worldwide UMC and executive secretary of the National Association of Schools and Colleges of the UMC. Throughout his career, he has pastored small Methodist churches, including serving as interim pastor of two UMC churches in the Western North Carolina Conference.
Taking a leadership role at Lake Junaluska represents a “full-circle moment” for Wells, who has been visiting the community regularly for some 50 years, even renting a place on the lake to finish writing his doctoral dissertation in the mid-1990s, he said.
“My first memory of Lake Junaluska goes back to the early 1970s when my father, an elder in the Holston Conference, used to bring the whole family to annual meetings. My sisters and I loved Lake Junaluska. Throughout the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and right up until today, we have used Lake Junaluska as a place for family together time and renewal,” Wells said. “Up until several years ago, we would occasionally rent a large place and celebrate Christmas as a family. This is a very special place.”
Throughout much of his career in higher education, Wells has had responsibility for leading fundraising activities.
“I love the opportunity to connect people with the places and causes that mean the most to them,” he said. “I am proud of my part in raising money for the transition of Young Harris College to a baccalaureate-granting institution. In addition, I am grateful for the opportunities afforded me as president of Emory & Henry to gain valuable experience raising money for athletics facilities, for academic programs like the new School of Business, for programs that contribute to the economic revitalization of Southwest Virginia and for scholarships that transform the lives of students.”
Wells said that he is excited to join the existing team at Lake Junaluska and is looking forward to playing a role in fulfilling its mission.
“In my capacity as a fundraiser for Lake Junaluska, I want to lean into the strategic priorities already identified through careful reflection on the part of the Lake Junaluska leadership. By improving and preserving this good place, it is my hope that Lake Junaluska can continue to be an oasis of hope where donors are assured that their philanthropy is genuinely making a difference,” he said.
Wells’ lifelong tie to Lake Junaluska was among the deciding factors leading him to accept the position of director of advancement, he said.
“Lake Junaluska has always served as a beacon of stability and renewal throughout my life. As I have moved to another time in my professional life, I want to be connected with the mission and ministry of Lake Junaluska. I believe that, in a world filled with such division, tension and uncertainty, places like Lake Junaluska have a role to play that is even more profound than the roles performed throughout its storied history. I want to be a part of that.”
In addition, his wife, Shannon Earle, has been hired recently as associate vice chancellor for university advancement at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
“I am also afforded the opportunity of once again having my wife and me under the same roof,” he said. “The chance for both of us to be working for two very special gems of Western North Carolina is an honor we don’t take lightly.”
Wells will join Melissa Aldridge and Kelsi Fermin in leading the Lake Junaluska fundraising efforts, Howle said. He will also work closely with Teresa Tate, Melanie McConnell and Madison Morgan with the communications and marketing team to promote Lake Junaluska.
