Our History

Hardin-Simmons University (HSU) was founded in 1891 as Abilene Baptist College by the Sweetwater Baptist Association. It was renamed Simmons College in honor of the first major donor, Dr. James B. Simmons, a Baptist minister from New York City. Later the college became Hardin-Simmons University in recognition of gifts by Mr. and Mrs. John Hardin of Burkburnett, Texas. Since 1941 the university has been affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Throughout its history HSU has emphasized religious training and spiritual values. The university’s foundation agreement reads in part that its purpose shall be “To bring young men and women to Christ; to teach them of Christ; to train them for Christ.”

Logsdon Seminary has emerged as a natural extension of a long and rich educational imperative first conceived by a determined group of Baptist lay people over one hundred years ago. From the beginning HSU has been concerned with the preparation of persons for ministry and church leadership. The Logsdon School of Theology, of which Logsdon Seminary is a part, was established in 1983. Named for Charles and Koreen Logsdon of Abilene, the school was founded in memory of Mr. Logsdon, who died in 1981. Mr. Logsdon graduated from HSU in 1928 and later served the university as a trustee for fifteen years. As an expression of her commitment to the university and in fulfillment of her husband’s wishes, Mrs. Logsdon made the largest gift in the university’s history to that date to establish the Logsdon School of Theology. In 1989 the Logsdon School of Theology complex was completed to provide an ideal space for theological education at HSU.

In 1995 Logsdon School of Theology began offering a Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree. The Master of Arts in Family Ministry (MAFM) degree, which had been in the university’s Psychology Department since 1985, was moved to Logsdon in 1997. In February 2004, the HSU trustees created Logsdon Seminary as an entity within the Logsdon School of Theology to offer the MDiv and MAFM degrees. In Fall 2009, Logsdon Seminary began offering the Doctor of Ministry degree. In Fall 2014, the seminary began offering the Master of Arts (Religion), a degree that previously was offered by the university faculty of the Logsdon School of Theology. Logsdon Seminary opened an extension in San Antonio in Fall 2006. That extension is hosted by Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio.