Philip Samaan, PhD, is retiring at the end of this semester. Samaan has taught at Southern for 20 years, and is regarded by his students as a spiritual mentor, invested teacher and friend.
Before working at Southern, Samaan worked as a youth leader in the North Pacific Union Conference, a missionary in the African Division of Seventh-day Adventists, a professor at Andrews University and at the General Conference as the Chief Editor of the Adult Sabbath School Quarterly. He came to Southern in 1998 and has been working here ever since.
“The passion of my life was to teach, and God fulfilled that,” Samaan said. “Christian education is more than dispensing good information, but investing in our students.”
Samaan has taught courses such as Christian Spirituality, Life and Teachings of Jesus, Christian Witnessing, and World Religions among many others. Samaan believes that one of the greatest ways for professors to help student retention is not just to teach, but to genuinely connect with students.
“If you’re a teacher, teach like Jesus,” Samaan said. “There is no greater accomplishment than that. It is not just meeting of mind with mind, but meeting their [students’] hearts.”
Over the years, he has made efforts outside of classes to make dorm visitations and stay updated on his students’ lives. He strives to make his classes humorous and wants his students to enjoy learning from him. He has been honored with three President’s Awards for his excellence in teaching, student service and commitment to student success.
After retiring, Samaan plans to work on his ministry, Christ’s Way, giving seminars around the world with the purpose to help people become more Christlike in all they do.
In addition, he will be devoting time to publishing more books. He has published “Abraham’s other Son,” “Dare to be a Daniel” and “Christ’s Way to Affirmation” among several others. He wishes to continue his mission of showing Christ to others by connecting with people and meeting their needs and still wants to be involved with students at Southern.
“I worked for the church for 43 years, and 20 of them were here [Southern]. I stayed here the longer than anywhere else because I love my fellow professors, students and environment.”
Madeline Mace, junior fine arts major, said that Samaan has impacted her profoundly.
“His spiritual guidance and encouragement is a testimony to how every Christian should seek to be. Our campus will experience a loss of a man who thinks nothing of himself, but seeks to build up those who are broken and struggling. I am so thankful for the service he has done for us students and the entire campus.”
(Photo courtesy Marketing and University Relations
Photo: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1TS9NucdidYH0u6haCK7tPdMceVQbO9gm)