The Southwestern Adventist University Board of Trustees voted on May 21, 2026, for Nelu Nedelea to become the 27th president of the university. He will assume the office on July 15. Nedelea most recently served as system vice president of Mission and Ministry for Mercy, one of the largest Catholic health systems in the United States.
“I am deeply honored and humbled by the opportunity to serve as president of Southwestern Adventist University,” says Nedelea. “I believe this is a moment to build bridges between faith, innovation, academic excellence, and service. My family and I are excited to join a community committed to developing students not only for successful careers, but also for lives of purpose, leadership, and meaningful impact.”
“Dr. Nedelea’s deep commitment to mission, his proven leadership across complex organizations, and his heart for forming the next generation made him the ideal candidate for the role of president. We thank God for His leadership in the selection process, and we know the university is in good hands, because it’s in God’s hands,” says Elton DeMoraes, chair of the Southwestern Adventist University Board and president of the Southwestern Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
The university’s presidential search committee engaged the services of FaithSearch Partners, who assisted in narrowing the field of qualified Seventh-day Adventist candidates to a select group who met the key skills and characteristics desired in the university’s next president. These skills and characteristics included strategic leadership, mission integration, organizational transformation, and faith-informed leadership. The interview process included panel and individual interviews, as well as engagements with faculty, staff and students, who then provided feedback to the search committee.
“Dr. Nedelea brings exactly what we were looking for: a leader who has integrated mission and values at scale, and who leads from his faith. The committee believes he is the right person, at the right time, to lead Southwestern Adventist University,” says John Page, Southwestern Union Conference treasurer and chair of the search committee.
Nelu Nedelea earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Global Leadership and Change from Pepperdine University in 2024, a Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management from La Sierra University in 2018, and a Master of Science in Chaplaincy from Loma Linda University in 2016. He is an ordained minister within the Seventh-day Adventist Church and holds active ministerial credentials through the North American Division.
He began his career as a lead pastor in Romania and Canada, directing teams of more than 30 staff and volunteers and overseeing community-based educational and capital development initiatives. He later served as director of Mission Integration and Spiritual Care for Adventist Health in Bakersfield, St. Helena, and Glendale, California, before joining Mercy in 2022, where he led system-wide mission integration across more than 40 hospitals and 900 care sites and provided executive leadership for more than 300 team members.
Throughout his career, he has been a frequent keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, and guest lecturer, and has contributed scholarly work on organizational resilience, leadership development, and inclusion. He is fluent in Romanian and conversational in Spanish.
“Southwestern Adventist University is entering a season of great opportunity, and I am confident that God has prepared Dr. Nedelea for this moment,” says DeMoraes. “His love for students, his devotion to the mission of Adventist education, and his servant’s heart will be a blessing to this campus and to the entire Southwestern Union family. We ask the church to join us in praying for him, for Southwestern, and for the work God is calling us to do together.”
