At its meeting today (Feb. 28), the Board of Directors elected Frank Clark Spencer to succeed Robert W. Maggs Jr. as president of The Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

In October 2012, Maggs announced that he would retire in 2014 after 15 years of dedicated service.

Following his announcement, the Board of Directors formed the Search Committee, which hired Fraser Keating Associates, LLC to lead the search. Spencer will be presented to the 221st General Assembly (2014) for confirmation, after which he will assume the role of president.

Spencer is an experienced business executive who during his professional career has led diverse for-profit and nonprofit organizations. He has 28 years of experience in finance and commercial real estate development. Spencer spent 15 years in healthcare real estate with Cogdell Spencer Inc., joining as its chief operating officer in 1996. He was subsequently appointed president in 1998 and became CEO when the company launched its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005. In 2009, Spencer was honored as “Entrepreneur of the Year” in the Carolinas by Ernst and Young.

In 2011, he entered Union Presbyterian Seminary at Charlotte as a candidate for the Master of Divinity degree with expected completion in 2014. In addition to his full-time studies, since 2012 Spencer has served as president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity, Charlotte, N.C. One of Habitat for Humanity’s largest and most dynamic U.S. affiliates, Habitat Charlotte provides affordable housing and support for more than 1,250 families in Charlotte and El Salvador.

Dedicated to the mission and ministry of the PC(USA), Mr. Spencer has served the Church in various capacities since his youth, which he spent in Davidson, N.C., where his father was president of Davidson College. Currently a ruling elder at Selwyn Avenue Presbyterian Church, Charlotte, N.C., he has served as chairman of the Board of Directors for Montreat Conference Center and on the NEXT Church National Strategy Team. Spencer has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Board of Pensions for two years.

“The Search Committee developed selection criteria based on discussions with the Board of Directors, senior staff and others,” said Thomas C. Paisley Jr., chair of the Board of Directors. “Following a national search, interviews, dialogue and prayer, the committee presented Frank as their candidate. The Board of Directors is grateful for the committee’s dedicated service and we are proud to announce that Frank will be our next president.”

“I am honored to have this opportunity to lead the Board of Pensions in its mission to provide benefits and assistance to those who serve the Church, especially during such times of change for our denomination,” Spencer said after his election was announced.

Spencer is a graduate with High Distinction from Harvard Business School where he was named a Baker Scholar. He was a Morehead scholar at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, earning a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in German literature.

The Board of Directors meeting concludes March 1.