J. Randall O'Brien is the twenty-second president of Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee. The Board of Trustees unanimously elected him in July 2008. O'Brien succeeded Dr. James Netherton, who resigned in May 2007. He was inaugurated on October 30, 2009, after assuming administrative duties on January 1, 2009. O'Brien came to Carson-Newman from Baylor University where he was executive vice-president and provost. He was a popular theology professor, and received many teaching awards during his tenure at Baylor.