Milton Moreland

Biography

A renowned scholar of archaeology, ancient history, and religion, Milton C. Moreland was appointed by the Board of Trustees as the 21st President of Centre College in 2020. President Moreland assumed office in July 2020 and safely and successfully led Centre through the COVID pandemic. He also quickly launched a strategic planning initiative which culminated in Centre’s Strategic Plan 2022-25, expanding the College’s investments in career readiness, experiential learning and community engagement, and campus well-being. Moreland has committed to increasing access and opportunity for students at Centre and galvanized efforts to recruit and retain faculty and staff, raising more than $150 million for financial aid, faculty and staff salaries, and campus infrastructure in his first three years.

A native of Boise, Idaho, Moreland earned his undergraduate degree in history with honors from the University of Memphis, where his mentor, Dr. Marcus Orr, introduced him to the joy of studying ancient texts, languages, and artifacts. Moreland wrote his honors thesis on the Nag Hammadi Library, a set of early Christian texts discovered in Egypt in 1945. He continued his study of archaeology, ancient history, and religion at the Claremont Graduate University in California, where he earned his MA and Ph.D. degrees.

His scholarly work appears in leading journals and focuses on Roman archaeology and religious traditions in the Mediterranean region. Moreland has also edited several books, including Between Text and Artifact: Integrating Archaeology into Biblical Studies Teaching.

Prior to joining the Centre community, Moreland served for 6 years as the Provost and chief academic officer at Rhodes College. He first joined the Rhodes campus community in 2003 and was promoted to associate and full professor, serving as the R.A. Webb Professor of Religious Studies, and Chair of the Archaeology Program.

During that time, Moreland directed the Rhodes Institute for Regional Studies, and was the founding director of the Lynne and Henry Turley Memphis Center. Outside of the classroom, his field work with students has involved travel to sites in Jordan, Turkey, Greece, and Germany, including collaboration with the Duke University Field School in Israel. Moreland was on the senior staff of the Sepphoris Regional Archaeological Project in Galilee for over 20 years. During his time at Rhodes, Moreland was also recognized with the Cleo Dunning-Alfred Billingsley Cemetery Preservation Award from Preservation of African American Cemeteries (PAAC) for his dedication to the preservation of African American cemeteries.

Moreland is joined at Centre by his wife, Dina, a native of Chesterfield, Indiana, and a former national champion racquetball player who competed on the USA team. She attended the University of Memphis, completing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in gerontology and educational studies, and began her career as a pharmaceutical salesperson in southern California, while touring as a professional racquetball player in the 1990s. From 2003-2020, she was an elementary school teacher in Memphis. Dina is now active in Danville with the Gladys Project, and Casa of the Bluegrass, and stays busy on campus with Blue, Centre’s first dog, supporting student well-being.

The Morelands have two grown children. Marcus, a 2016 graduate of Rhodes College, who majored in business and now works in logistics management, and Micah, a 2020 graduate of Rhodes College who was an international studies major and Asian studies minor, who now works as a consultant in digital marketing. Both of their sons were student-athletes, Marcus in baseball and Micah in football.