Gary Kern grew up in the farm country of central Illinois. After high school, he worked as a mechanic. He and his father operated an auto body repair shop. He has also worked as a flight instructor and corporate pilot.
Kern first came to ORU as a student, earning both the B.A. and M.A. degrees in theology.
During the M.A. degree work (and later M.Div. studies), he served as a graduate assistant
in the ORU School of Theology, teaching Theological Research Methods for ORU Seminary
students, Old and New Testament Survey courses in Undergraduate Theology, and occasionally
teaching Biblical Hebrew classes for Dr. Roy Hayden and Syriac classes for Dr. Howard
Ervin.
Kern returned to Oral Roberts University from a pastorate in South Dakota and joined
the faculty in 1990, teaching in the History, Humanities, & Government Department.
Kern teaches about 400 students per year in the General Education Humanities program.
Courses taught more recently include Christian Worldview & Culture, Classical Roman
Civilization, and Learning from the Late Middle Ages.
Kern also has been a faculty member with ORU’s distance learning programs since 1991,
developing correspondence curriculum and then online curriculum for courses such as:
Ancient to Medieval Humanities, Renaissance to Reformation Humanities, and Modern
Humanities.