About LeBron

Edward LeBron Fairbanks founded and has served as the director of BoardServe LLC since 2011. The consulting service nurtures “transformed and transformative” governing boards of Christian organizations, including universities and seminaries, not-for-profit organizations, and local churches.

He retired in October 2011 as the education commissioner for the Church of the Nazarene. In this assignment, he served as the administrator of the International Board of Education (IBOE), a consortium of 52 denominational universities, colleges, and seminaries on campuses and learning centers in 120 nations. He worked closely with the 13-member IBOE in strengthening the Nazarene higher education institutions worldwide.

Dr. Fairbanks co-authored the leadership text, Learning to be Last: Leadership for Congregational Transformation in 2008 and Best Practices for Effective Boards in 2012. He created the teaching video, Building Better Boards: A Conversation, produced in 2012, and available in English and Spanish. In addition, he has written numerous books and articles, including the ministerial course of study text, Leading the People of God: Servant Leadership for a Servant Community. His latest book, Leading Decisively! Leading Faithfully! Reflections and Markers, was published in October 2016 and available from Amazon in print and electronic copies.

Dr. Fairbanks earned his bachelor’s degree at Trevecca Nazarene University. He also earned three master’s degrees— M.A. from Scarritt College, M.Div. from the Nazarene Theological Seminary, and M.Th. from Princeton Theological Seminary.

He was designated a Fellow in Pastoral Leadership Education by Princeton Theological Seminary and earned the Doctor of Ministry degree from Nazarene Theological Seminary. Dr. Fairbanks completed the summer program at the Harvard University Institute of Educational Management and was a Research Fellow at Yale University Divinity School.

Dr. Fairbanks became Academic Dean in 1978 for the European Nazarene College near Schaffhausen, Switzerland. In 1984, he was elected President of the Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary in Manila, Philippines, where he served until accepting the presidency of Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Mount Vernon, Ohio, in July 1989. He served MVNU as a university president for 18 years, retiring in 2007.

In addition to his BoardServe consulting service, Dr. Fairbanks served in interim leadership roles in Brisbane, Australia, and Tampa, Florida. He taught leadership classes in the past three years in Manila, Philippines; Gelnhausen, Germany; Lisbon, Portugal; and Yangon, Myanmar (Burma).

He and his wife, Anne, have been married for over 50 years and have one son, Stephen. Dr. Fairbanks can be contacted at lfairbanks@boardserve.org. His blog/website address is: www.boardserve.org.

View Dr. Edward Lebron Fairbanks’ Vita here.