Azusa Pacific University Provost Anita Fitzgerald Henck, PhD, named Glendora, CA resident, David Weeks, PhD, the inaugural Fletcher Jones Endowed Chair in Citizenship and Civic Virtue in the Honors College, effective July 1, 2025. Weeks brings more than 40 years of higher education teaching and leadership experience to the role, with expertise in political philosophy, religion and politics, and Christian liberal education.
“Dr. David Weeks has invested his entire professional life at Azusa Pacific University,” Henck said. “It is a fitting tribute that he will conclude his career after launching an endowed chair that focuses on citizenship and civic virtue—hallmarks of the Honors College. He will continue teaching while advancing his scholarly contributions; this is a unique privilege and high honor. We congratulate him!”
The vision and fundraising for the Fletcher Jones Endowed Chair was initiated by Weeks as an Endowed Chair in Citizenship and Civic Virtue. As designed, “the primary responsibility of the holder of this chair will be teaching about civic virtue, the responsibilities and blessings of citizenship, and the leadership skills essential to a free people. The aim is to foster the moral and intellectual character of civically minded young people.”
The Fletcher Jones Foundation provided $1 million, which was matched by $1 million from APU and $2 million from generous APU donors deeply committed to the values and influence of the Honors College on APU students and the communities they serve. The successful launch of the endowed chair is a tribute to the breadth of Weeks’ vision and the depth of his engagement in the honors education community and among supporters of honors education. The endowed chair will become a permanent faculty position in the Honors College. Previously, the foundation established a $500,000 Fletcher Jones Foundation Endowed Scholarship Fund for Exemplary Students in the Honors College in 2017.
“It is a high honor to be the inaugural Fletcher Jones chairholder,” Weeks said. “After serving as a dean for 29 years, I am delighted that my final role at APU entails a return to my first loves—teaching and learning. My devotion to the mission and students of the Honors College remains unwavering.”
In this new role, Weeks will continue his distinguished career at APU that began when he was hired as an assistant professor in 1983, while completing his doctoral degree in political science at Loyola University of Chicago. Since his arrival, he has moved through the rigor of faculty promotions, attaining the rank of professor in 1993. Simultaneously, he moved into leadership roles, serving as chair of the Department of History and Political Science (1988-96); director of the general studies program (1994-2004); director of the Azusa Semester at Oxford University (2004-06); dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (1996-2013); and dean of the Honors College (2013-25). As the founding dean of the Honors College, Weeks moved the emphasis from a program to a college, defining the Honors College telos—its aim, purpose, and end—as being devoted to liberally educating the next generation of high-achieving, academically motivated Christian leaders. Under Weeks’ leadership, the curriculum starts with the premise that good leadership requires the cultivation of moral and intellectual virtue—the habits of the heart and of the mind that enable one to determine what ought to be done and how best to do it.
Azusa Pacific University, a top Christian higher education institution on the West Coast, equips students to become compassionate leaders who impact the world for Christ. APU offers 66 bachelor’s degrees, 40 master’s degrees, 32 certificates and credentials, and 9 doctoral programs to more than 6,500 students at the university’s main campus in Azusa, several regional locations across Southern California, and online. Learn more at apu.edu.