Garry Sudds, former associate director of education for the Lake Union Conference, has accepted the appointment of director, replacing Gary Randolph who retired in April 2007. Sudds served with Randolph for the past 12 years, creating a team approach to meeting the needs of education in the Lake Union.

Sudds is noted for his spiritual commitment and for the added dimension of pastoral care he has provided for teachers and administrators in secondary education. A man of prayer, Sudds has led out in making prayer an important part of education by encouraging educators in the practice of prayer for students, parents and each other, and by providing union prayer conferences where students can be inspired to make prayer a part of student life on campus.

Sudds is known for being guided by principle, which is a direct result of his commitment to studying the "blueprint" for Adventist education. "Preparing a student for a life on this earth to earn a 'good living' seems to carry higher value in many minds than preparing students for a life of honesty, integrity and service to humanity," says Sudds. "However, in the Lake Union Seventh-day Adventist K–12 system, our educational curriculum is designed to build a better child, fully prepared for service to both God and humanity."

To round out the services the Lake Union provides to local conferences and schools, Sudds is working with administration to search for a good complement to serve as his associate. He is also working with administration in developing a task force on education to address the new challenges of providing Adventist education in an ever-changing culture.

Sudds is in the process of completing a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Andrews University.

During his career in Adventist education, Sudds has been an assistant boys' dean, principal, chaplain/Bible teacher, associate superintendent, and superintendent of schools in the New Jersey and Rocky Mountain conferences.

He has been married to his wife Joanna for 37 years, and Sudds feels that he has been blessed abundantly because "My wife loves me, my children respect me, and my 12-year-old Schnauzer still goes crazy every time I walk in the door."

The only legacy Sudds hopes to be remembered for is: "This man was a very close friend of Jesus."

Gary Burns, communication director, Lake Union Conference