ORU Remembers Dr. William Epperson
The following is a statement from ORU President Dr. William M. Wilson, dated May 2, 2019:
It is with deep sadness that I must inform the ORU family that Dr. William Epperson,
one of our longest-serving faculty members, has passed. This is a very significant
loss for our entire community.
Dr. Epperson taught English at ORU for more than five decades and was named the University's
"Outstanding Faculty Member" three times during that span, as well as being selected
as the “Outstanding Faculty of the College of Arts and Cultural Studies.”
Though he received many awards and accolades, including a Fulbright Fellowship in
1989, Dr. Epperson's true pleasure was in the classroom. Beloved by students past
and present, his chief aim in teaching was to increase understanding of people and
cultures so that his students learned to perceive the patterns of Christ’s grace in
all they saw and experienced. These lessons were taken to heart by thousands of his
students over the years, hearts that will undoubtedly be broken by this news.
Dr. Epperson felt called to Christian higher education from the time he was a college
freshman. When he came to interview at ORU in the spring of 1968, he recognized it
as a place where one could practice the gifts of the Holy Spirit in a community of
Christian educators. His vibrancy and passion will be greatly missed among our students
and his fellow faculty members.
Dr. Epperson is survived by his wife Linda and their three daughters. Please keep
this precious family in your prayers in this difficult time.