Paul Chitwood serves as president of the International Mission Board. Before his election in 2018, he previously served as executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention and as the pastor of local churches of varying sizes in Kentucky. A native of Jellico, Tenn., Chitwood is a 1992 graduate of Cumberland College and earned a Master of Divinity and Ph.D. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a master’s degree in nonprofit administration from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. He served as a faculty member of the seminary between 2002 and 2018.

He and his wife, Michelle, have four children.