Dr. Elmer Towns is the co-founder of Liberty University, the largest private nonprofit university in the world. Towns is also a prominent Christian leader, author, and speaker on the principles of church growth, church leadership, Christian education, Sunday school, and prayer and fasting. He has authored over 170 books, eight of which are listed on the Christian Booksellers Bestselling List. In 1995 he received the Gold Medallion Award from the Evangelical Christian Booksellers Association for Book of the Year in Biblical Study, The Names of the Holy Spirit. Most recently Dr. Towns served as the dean of the B. R. Lakin School of Religion, dean of the Liberty University Baptist Theological Seminary, and Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Liberty University. In the fall of 2013, Towns announced he would be taking a sabbatical from his teaching and administration duties to focus on speaking and writing. He lives in Lynchburg, VA.