Dr. John Mark Toby serves as a Professor of Leadership Studies at the University of the Cumberlands. He has also served as a Leadership Strategist for the South Central Baptist Association and a pastor for several Baptist churches in Kentucky. He has served as the First Vice-President of the Southern Baptist Convention and as the President of the Kentucky Baptist Convention and Pastor's Conference. He retired as the Senior Army Chaplain Colonel with the Joint Forces Headquarters State Command in the Army National Guard with thirty-five years of military service. He is married to Cathy and they live on a farm in Allen County, Kentucky. They have an adult son, Johnathan, who is a graduate of the University of the Cumberlands with a business degree and is the owner of Superior Docks.