Truett Seminary Names Inaugural Director of Hispanic Initiatives
WACO, Texas (December 2, 2025) – Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary announced today that Raúl Josué Valerio, DMin, has been appointed to serve as the inaugural director of Hispanic Initiatives at Truett Seminary.
As Valerio begins this new position, he will play a vital role in advancing Truett’s ongoing commitment to serving and partnering with Hispanic ministers and ministries across Texas and beyond. This new initiative at Truett, made possible through philanthropic support, dovetails beautifully with Commitment III (Building a Vibrant, Caring, Global Community) in Baylor’s current strategic plan (Baylor in Deeds), especially III.4: “Build upon existing work focused on Baylor’s nearest global neighbor, Latin America.” As he begins his timely and necessary work, Valerio will lead out in the development and implementation of Spanish-language certificate programming as well as in the planning and launching of Doctor of Ministry in Spanish. Simultaneously, he will work to cultivate increasingly warm, reciprocal relationships with Hispanic conventions, congregations, and ministry leaders. Through these strategic efforts, Truett aims to strengthen its engagement with a growing and influential community within the Church, Texas, and world. In so doing, Truett will be leaning into and living out Baylor’s motto: Pro Ecclesia. Pro Texana. Pro Mundo.
“We have searched long and hard as well as far and wide to find just the right person to fill this new and necessary position, and we are convinced that we have done so by hiring Dr. Valerio,” said Todd D. Still, PhD, dean of Truett Seminary. “Josué’s education, experience, networks, and commitments, along with his magnanimous and contagious personality, uniquely qualify him to do this significant, strategic Kingdom work. Truett will be immeasurably stronger and richer as a result. I could not be more pleased or hopeful.”
Valerio holds a BA from the University of Texas–Pan American, a MDiv from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a MA from the University of Texas–Arlington, and a DMin from Fuller Theological Seminary. He has served in a wide range of ministry roles, including as director for the El Paso Baptist Association, Baptist Student Ministry, and Center for Missional Engagement with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Additionally, he has been a missionary with the International Mission Board and has engaged in local church leadership. Valerio has also taught as an adjunct faculty member at Dallas Baptist University, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Seminario Teológico Bautista Mexicano in Mexico City.
With an extensive network of ministry partnerships across Texas, the United States, Latin America, Europe, and East Asia, Valerio brings a global, missional perspective to his work. A native Spanish speaker, his bilingual linguistic abilities have afforded him opportunities to teach in seminaries and colleges near and far.
Regarding this new position, Valerio remarked, “I am excited about serving as the inaugural director of Hispanic Initiatives at Baylor’s Truett Seminary. The USA has roughly 68 million Hispanics, and Texas is the state with the second-largest Hispanic population. Seventy percent of Hispanics in the US speak Spanish. It is a great opportunity and providential timing to be able to invest directly in future ministry leaders both in Spanish-speaking communities and the world.” He continued, “I envision a thriving and growing worldwide community of well-trained Spanish-speaking pastors, missionaries, church leaders, educators, and denominational leaders serving in Texas, the US, and the world, fulfilling the Lord’s mission.”
Valerio will begin his new role at Truett on January 5, 2026. Although he will be based at Truett in Waco, he will travel widely both within and beyond Texas to cultivate networks and promote programs. The hiring committee for the director of Hispanic Initiatives was comprised of the following: Dean Still (chair); Bryan DeVries, DMin; Ana Johnson; Joe Rangel, PhD; David Tate, DMin; and Angel Santiago-Vendrell, PhD. They, in turn, were supported by Baylor University Human Resources Talent Advisor Chris Coley and Nancy Plotts, assistant to the dean of Truett Seminary.
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.
ABOUT GEORGE W. TRUETT THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
George W. Truett Theological Seminary is an orthodox, evangelical, multi-denominational school in the historic Baptist tradition embedded into Baylor, a Christian R1 University. Truett’s mission is to equip God-called people for gospel ministry in and alongside Christ’s Church by the power of the Holy Spirit. Accredited by the Association of Theological Schools and affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Baptist World Alliance, Truett Seminary provides theological education leading to the Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Christian Ministry, Master of Arts in Contextual Witness and Innovation, Master of Arts in Theology, Ecology and Food Justice, Master of Arts in Theology and Sports Studies (online), Master of Theological Studies, Doctor of Ministry, and PhD in Preaching. In addition to a number of distinctive programs, institutes, and centers, Truett Seminary also offers joint degrees through Baylor University school/college partnerships in social work, business, law, music, and education. Besides its flagship Baugh-Reynolds Campus in Waco, the Seminary also has locations in Houston and San Antonio. Visit the Truett Seminary website