The 39-year-old sociologist from Rice University joins a younger group of Christian college leaders.

Gordon College has selected Michael Lindsay, assistant professor of sociology at Rice University, as its next president. Lindsay will begin on July 1 at the Christian liberal arts college in Wenham, Massachusetts.

At age 39, Lindsay will join a younger cohort of leaders for Christian institutions. For instance, Philip Ryken, who became president of Wheaton College last year, is 44 and Dinesh D’Souza, president of The King’s College, is 49.

Lindsay finished his undergraduate degree from Baylor University, completed a master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and received a Ph.D. from Princeton in 2006. He is completing a study which is based on interviews with over 500 leaders in the U.S.

Lindsay is author of Faith in the Halls of Power, which documented evangelicals in high-profile leadership positions in politics, media, education, and business. (See Christianity Today’s earlier review. The book won first place in the Christianity and Culture category in CT’s annual Book Awards).

CT senior writer Tim Stafford interviewed Lindsay about the book in the November 2007 issue of CT.

Last fall, Gordon’s current president R. Judson Carlberg announced his retirement.

Read More: http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2011/03/michael_lindsay.html