OBU Honors Retirees Carlton and Mastin

May 12, 2023

Oklahoma Baptist University hosted a retirement reception for two longtime faculty members May 8 at the Geiger Center, on the OBU campus in Shawnee.

Retiring faculty include Dr. Bruce Carlton, Director of the Global Marketplace Engagement Program and Professor of Cross-Cultural Ministry, after 12 years of service, and Coach Ford Mastin, Head Track and Field Coach, after 27 years of service with OBU. Coach Mastin will stay on for one additional year as the assistant track and field coach.

Dr. Carlton joined the OBU faculty in the Hobbs School of Theology and Ministry in August 2011. Carlton came to OBU with over 20 years of field experience with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention (1986-2007). He and his wife Gloria lived and served in Hong Kong, Cambodia, India, and Singapore during their missionary career. Having been actively involved in church-planting movements in various places in Asia, Carlton is well-respected as a missionary trainer and remains involved in training missionaries and church planters around the globe. Previously, he served as an Associate Professor of Missions and Departmental Coordinator at Boyce College in Louisville, KY (2007-2011).

The Carltons have been married for 41 years and have two grown daughters, two granddaughters and two grandsons.

Coach Mastin is an 11-time NAIA National Coach of the Year with 10 NAIA national championships, and eight NCCAA National Championships, since starting with the Bison in the 1996-97 seasons. He has garnered countless conference and regional Coach of the Year honors and was inducted into the Oklahoma Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2008, the OBU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009, the NAIA Hall of Fame in 2014, and the Drake Relays Hall of Fame in 2019. He won the SAC Coach of Character Award in 1012-13 and the NAIA Coach of Character Award in 2014. A 1977 graduate of OBU, Coach Mastin is a third generation Bison, lettering in track at OBU from 1973-77.

Ford and his wife, Terri, have three children, Linsey, Trevor, and Kaeley.