Trevecca welcomes new deans to three academic schools

By Alana McLaughlin

Senior Reporter

During the past year, three new deans have assumed leadership of three of the largest schools on campus.

The School of Music and Worship Arts, the Skinner School of Business and the school of STEM and Health Sciences are all under new leadership.

“We’ve just hired three outstanding leaders on our campus, and in these hires, these are people that are just incredible. It’s hard when you say goodbye to really good leaders, but whenever you bring in new leadership, they bring new vision and new energy to the department in a fresh way,” said Tom Middendorf, university provost and senior vice president. 

Undergraduate programs at Trevecca are divided into seven academic schools which are led by a dean. The dean is tasked with supervising the daily operations of the school and guiding students, faculty and staff through academic challenges, meetings, and curriculum planning, 

Craig Adams was appointed the interim dean of the School of Music and Worship Arts, Phil Rickard was appointed the dean of the Skinner School of Business, and Ronald Barredo was appointed the dean of the School of STEM and Health Sciences. 

Rickard, who came to Trevecca from Lee University, was appointed after the retirement of Jim Hiatt, who served as professor, dean, and assistant provost for 43 years. 

Rickard studied Business Management and Accounting at Concord University in Athens, West Virginia, and obtained his Master of Business Administration from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. After obtaining his MBA, Rickard joined the faculty at Mount Vernon Nazarene University as an accounting professor, but felt a calling on his heart toward youth ministry and served as a youth pastor in Ohio. Rickard brings decades of both industry experience and higher education experience to Trevecca.   

Rickard believes that he was called to this role.

“At this season in my life, the combination of teaching in multiple areas within business, but also director roles and other tasks that God has given me throughout the years, it’s the right time to take on this type of leadership and managerial capacity here at Trevecca,” said Rickard. 

Middendorf said that Rickard is the right fit for the role.

“He has a youth pastor background, but also a rich background in accounting, and has served in a number of different capacities in the past. We believed that Phil was just the obvious choice to take the helm at Trevecca and begin to lead the Skinner School of Business here on campus,” said Middendorf. 

Adams, a Trevecca alum, was appointed after the retirement of Vernon Whatley, who served as dean of the School of Music and Worship Arts for six years. 

Adams obtained both his Bachelor of Science in Music Business and Master of Arts in Worship and Leadership from Trevecca. Having grown up in Christian music publishing, by age 9, Adams was already singing on professional gospel records. 

“I grew up in the Christian music industry,” said Adams. “My dad was a writer, a songwriter, a producer, and a publisher. By the time I got here to school, I was already working professionally. I started singing on Christian children’s records at age 9. I was already producing songwriter demos by the time I was a junior in high school,” said Adams. 

After his graduation from Trevecca in 1991, Adams began travelling with his father and brother in concert ministry. Adams worked for Brentwood Benson Music Publishing and later Lifeway Worship. He credits these experiences as work that helped prepare him for his new role, and finds lots of overlap between the music business and music education.

“I’ve had a career of juggling a lot of balls at the same time here and keeping a lot of plates spinning, so that part of this job, I feel really at home in,” said Adams. “It’s never predictable, but I kind of like that about it. It keeps you on your toes.”

“Craig was always one of those individuals that has been beloved, within our own faculty and even beyond that,” said Middendorf. “We want both the committed relationship with the Lord and the commitment to a discipline in a way that honors the Lord and Craig is the walking embodiment of that.”

These two appointments follow the appointment of Dr. Ronald De Vera Barredo, another Trevecca alum, who was named dean of the School of STEM and Health Sciences last year. Barredo began his tenure in August of 2025. 

Barredo graduated from the University of the Philippines in 1990 with his BSPT (Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy). After a professional recruiter matched his skillset with an American hospital, Barredo moved to Madison, Tennessee, and began working for the Tennessee Christian Medical Center. Barredo worked in clinical practice for a decade, with specialties in geriatric and cardiopulmonary physical therapy. 

Barredo transitioned into academia and taught at institutions like Arkansas State University and Rocky Mountain University. Most recently, Barredo spent over twenty years at Tennessee State University, working his way up from lab assistant to dean of TSU’s College of Health Sciences.

Barredo wants to emphasize four strategic initiatives as keys to success within the School of STEM and Health Sciences. 

“The initiatives we are pursuing are visibility as a school, increasing our impact on student outcomes, improving academic quality, and enlarging our academic footprint,” said Barredo. 

Barredo said he inspires both students and faculty to see the correlation between God and science.

“When you look at biology and chemistry, it’s the fingerprint of God in His creation. When you look at physics and math, you find the fingerprints of God in the laws of nature. Our mission in STEM is to recognize the impact of God in Health Sciences,” said Barredo. 

Middendorf said that Barredo’s combination of faith, experience, and expertise are exactly what the School of STEM and Health Sciences needs.

“You want someone that, in STEM and Health Sciences, actually brings faith into this, that’s able to beautifully see the sciences from a faith perspective, and from day one, Dr. Barredo was able to do that,” said Middendorf. “His faith is so solid and he sees a very creative God.”