John Mark Reynolds, the founder and director of the Torrey Honors Institute, announced on Feb. 27 that he is leaving Biola at the year’s end to become provost at Houston Baptist University.

“Torrey has reached a point where Biola wants it to be,” Reynolds said. “I love my job, Biola, and the students, so [leaving] is entirely bittersweet.”

Reynolds announced his resignation on the Torrey Honors blog, where he stated that he and his wife will move to Houston, Texas in the summer. Reynolds will start working as provost at HBU in June under university president Robert Sloan.

“What is happening, what might happen at HBU under Robert Sloan is so exciting I hope merely to stay out of the way and make his vision possible,” Reynolds wrote in the blog.

The university has experienced major growth during Sloan’s five years there, according to HBU’s website. Reynolds hopes to help Sloan with his vision, but is confident in Torrey’s future during his absence.

Reynolds confident Torrey will continue to thrive

“I have the best faculty in the world [at Torrey],” Reynolds said. “There are a lot of good people who could replace me, since jobs in higher academia are not hard to fill.”

Torrey itself will remain the same, although Reynolds joked that it would become less eccentric. Biola will still thrive and Torrey will still consist of students radically pursuing Jesus, according to Reynolds.

Reynolds ended his blog post by saying, “[My wife] Hope and I are lucky to be part of two universities, Biola and Houston Baptist, that will be part of preserving as best we can a truly liberal Christ-centered education. This old hobbit is headed for a new adventure … and we are excited to see tomorrow.”