Chitwood, Paul
Paul Chitwood
President, International Mission Board
Dr. Paul Chitwood was elected President of the IMB in November 2018. He previously had served as Executive Director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention since 2011. For 18 years, Chitwood served as the pastor of local churches of varying sizes in Kentucky. During his pastorates, he served as Chairman of the International Mission Board’s Trustees from 2008-10, part of his tenure as an IMB Trustee from 2002-10.
His overseas short-term mission involvement includes work in South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. A native of Jellico, Tenn., Chitwood is a 1992 graduate of Cumberland College (now University of the Cumberlands), where he has served as a Trustee. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1995 and a Ph.D. from the seminary in 2001. He currently is pursuing a master’s degree in nonprofit administration from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. He and his wife, Michelle, have four children.