Billy Jim Leonard (born 20 March 1946) is an American historian of religion, Baptist pastor, teacher and dean.
[1] He began teaching at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1975, was appointed William Walker Brookes Professor of American Christianity for 1990 and 1991, then left for Samford University in 1992.
[1][5] Concurrently, Leonard was on the faculty of Berea College between 1989 and 1995, including a stint as dean from 1991 to 1992.
[1] In May 1996, Leonard was appointed the founding dean of the Wake Forest University School of Divinity.
In September 2011, Wake Forest University announced the creation of the James and Marilyn Dunn Chair of Baptist Studies.