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Dr. Mark Williams was honored as the 2014 Distinguished Alumnus for Lee University’s Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences at a department breakfast during Homecoming festivities earlier this month.

Williams graduated from Lee with a degree in psychology in 1986 before earning a Master’s of Divinity from the Church of God Pentecostal Theological Seminary in 1989. He was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Lee in 2010.

Currently, Williams serves as General Overseer, the highest leadership position in the Church of God, where he guides and manages the activities of over seven million church members in 145 nations around the world. He was previously elected Second Assistant General Overseer as part of the International Executive Committee of the Church of God after serving as state overseer of California and Nevada. In addition, he has been a consistent advocate for higher education in the church, serving previously as the official liaison between Lee and the Church of God Executive Committee.

Williams first felt called to ministry in 1984 and began traveling as an evangelist while still a student at Lee. He continued to evangelize at camp meetings, youth camps, prayer conferences, and local church revivals throughout the next decade. He assumed his first pastorate in 1995 at the South Cleveland Church of God, and he pastored the Riverhills Church of God in Tampa, Florida, from 1999 to 2004.

With a zeal for young people, Williams longs for them to view the church as a place that captures their dreams. He also has a passion to end human trafficking, plant churches in rural areas as well as large cities, and see pastors fulfill their calling.

“Since his graduation from Lee in 1986, Mark has combined his love of psychology, his extraordinary memory, his amazing oratory skills, and his love of God and God’s word to become the leader that he is today,” said Dr. Jeff Sargent, chair of the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences.

Williams is married to Sandra Kay, and they have two sons, Austin and Ryan.

PHOTO: Dr. Jeff Sargent, left, presents Dr. Mark Williams with the Distinguished Alumnus Award for the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences at its Homecoming department breakfast earlier this month.