Abstract: The L. Russ Bush papers exemplify the many interests, academic and personal, of L. Russ Bush. Materials in this collection correlate to the numerous academic and intellectual pursuits he undertook in addition to his roles and positions at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Biographical Note: Luther Russel Bush III was born on December 25, 1944 in Alexandria, Louisiana. The family relocated to Mississippi when Bush was a young boy, and he would remain there until he attended Mississippi College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1967. In 1968 he married Cynthia (Cindy) McGraw. The Bushes would leave Mississippi for Fort Worth, Texas, where Bush would study and eventually a Master of Divinity (1970) and a Doctor of Philosophy (1975) from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. While pursuing his doctoral degree, Bush began teaching at SWBTS as a teaching assistant and would become a professor after earning his degree. Russ Bush would remain at SWBTS until 1989. In 1989 Bush went to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary where he would become the Academic Vice President and Dean of the Faculty. At this time, SEBTS was undergoing a tumultuous period of turnover and change, with many faculty leaving and the possibility of losing its accreditation. Bush worked tirelessly to ensure the institution would remain open. Bush’s efforts to attract new faculty, along with the actions of the SEBTS trustees and SEBTS president, Paige Patterson, would ensure that SEBTS survived this difficult period, and the seminary went on to experience a period of remarkable growth. Bush would remain in his role as Dean of Faculty and Academic Vice President at SEBTS until his retirement in 2006. In 2008, after a two-year battle with cancer, L. Russ Bush passed away. Today he is remembered not only for his efforts to help SEBTS, but also as a prominent Southern Baptist thinker and scholar.