BJU's Bob Taylor to retire

By Charles Sowell  

JANUARY 26, 2012 5:06 p.m. (0)

It was an old mathematics professor at Bob Jones University who, however unwittingly, set the course for Bob Taylor’s life in the late 1950s by urging him to go on for graduate level degrees in math and return to BJU to teach.

“Her name was Daniela Smith,” Taylor said. “She was from Texas.”

Taylor is stepping down as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in May after 50 years of continuous service at BJU. To those who know him best 50 years seems like about the right number.

“Bob is as steady a man as I’ve ever known,” said Joe Dill, who has served with Taylor for more than 10 years on Greenville County Council.

“Rock solid,” said H.G. “Butch” Kirven, chairman of county council. “Bob is the kind of man who you can talk to, but he’s never pushy.”

Taylor, 72, became involved in politics by working on the Barry Goldwater campaign for president while teaching at BJU in the early 1960s. He has been on county council since 2000.

His daughter Wendy Nanney is a big part of his political legacy. She followed in her dad’s Republican footsteps as a state representative from House District 22, which includes a big chunk of Bob Jones University’s footprint.

“One of my earliest memories of my dad in politics was when he was working on a campaign here in Greenville,” she said. “I was 12 or 13 years old and I vividly remember all the people coming to the house to talk with my father, licking envelopes for campaign literature – it all seemed very exciting.”

Taylor got off a train from his hometown in western Pennsylvania in January of 1958 to attend BJU.

“I’d gotten saved when I was in high school and asked my preacher about a good place to go to college,” Taylor said. “He was a Bob Jones graduate and suggested I come to Greenville.”

Taylor never really left except for short stints to work on his post-graduate degrees from Penn State University, Clemson and the University of South Carolina.

He holds a master’s degree in math from Penn State, a doctorate from Clemson in mathematics and a masters of business administration from USC.

Taylor grew up in the old Welch mining town of Ebensburg in western Pennsylvania, in the heart of coal country.

He met his wife Barb (Barbara) after Taylor’s dad, recently widowed, married Barb’s mom – who was also recently widowed – back in Pennsylvania.

“It was sort of unusual,” Taylor said. “Barb was getting ready to come down to BJU when we met. I married her shortly after I started teaching.”

One of his grandchildren (who was 12 or 13 at the time) once asked Taylor if his marriage was legal.

“I told her sure,” Taylor said.

The Taylors have three children, Scott, Tammy and Wendy. They have 11 grandchildren – most are in the Bob Jones educational system.

All five of Nanney’s children are in the Bob Jones educational system.

Nanney said her father is a great sports fan.

“If it’s on TV, he’ll watch it,” she said.

Things that linger in the minds of those who know Taylor best, like his love of deer hunting, are sometimes misconstrued. His former preacher at Hampton Park Baptist Church, David Yearick, thought Taylor brought his love of deer hunting with him from Pennsylvania.

“Actually, I didn’t start deer hunting until I was about 40,” Taylor said. “I started late. Guess that’s why I haven’t gotten tired of it.”

Taylor said the date of his retirement has not been set.

“We’re still negotiating on that one,” he said.

Nanney is not so certain her father will enjoy retirement as much as he thinks he will.

“I do know mom is looking forward to it. She wants to travel,” Nanney said.