Jarvis Christian University (JCU) Board of Trustees announced at its Spring 2024 Board meeting that Desoto, Texas resident, educator and retired city manager Mr. Torry Edwards has been named chair emeritus, having served on the JCU Board of Trustees since 2008. Chair emeritus is an honorary title given to an organization for a chair who has served with distinction and who has a strong connection to the organization and its mission, but who is without the same level of responsibility as active chairs or trustees.
In 2014, Mr. Edwards was appointed chair. He serves as chair of the JCU Board’s executive committee, and as an ex-officio member of the academic affairs/student services/enrollment and retention/SACSCOC committee, audit committee, board (trustees) development committee, buildings and grounds committee, finance committee, investment committee, resource and development committee, and strategic planning committee.
Mr. Edwards has performed keen fiduciary stewardship duty for Jarvis Christian University, and he has provided exceptional leadership, guidance, and expertise during his tenure as Board Chair, contributing significantly to the growth and success of JCU. He anticipates ending his term as Chair of the Board in December 2024.
Under his guidance, JCU implemented its first presidential succession plan, which it followed in 2023 when former provost Dr. Glenell M. Lee-Pruitt was named the 13th president of the 112-year-old institution.
Edwards and his wife, Cheryl, attended the 2024 Commencement at Jarvis Christian University May 4, 2024, witnessing the first Inaugural Graduating Class for the Master of Business Administration and the Master of Science in Criminal Justice Programs. U.S. Congressman Bennie G. Thompson delivered the Commencement Address for this grand occasion.
Mr. Edwards served as the city manager in Terrell, Texas, for 17 years, during which time he managed over $250 million in improvements to the city water system, water supply, regional planning, and capital infrastructure improvements. During his 17 years in office, median single-family home sales increased in Terrell by 69% and intercity crime dropped 45%.
Additionally, Mr. Edwards established a comprehensive Land-Development Master Plan to build a regional economic development, which is over a $2-billion-dollar private investment. He also negotiated and formed the largest Master Planned Development Special Taxing District in the State of Texas representing over 6,000 acres.
Mr. Edwards is a contract author for Kendall Hunt, and he has published a college and university textbook titled “Governance in America: How Government works.”
Currently, he serves as a professor-practitioner, teaching federal and Texas government in the Department of Law and Public Service at Dallas College---Eastfield Campus.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and government from the University of New Mexico. He also holds a master’s degree in public affairs, with a concentration in economics and public administration from the University of Texas at Dallas. A distinguished alumnus of the Center for Creative Leadership, Mr. Edwards holds a variety of certificates from the School of Management at Yale University, the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, and Harvard University.
He is a proud doctoral student at Clark Atlanta University, a private Methodist institution known as the first HBCU in the Southern States, where he is seeking a terminal degree in Higher Education Leadership.
