Kevin M. Burton

Kevin M. Burton
Director

Kevin M. Burton (Ph.D. 2023, Florida State University, Religion) studies the relationship between minority religions and evangelicalism in the antebellum United States, particularly in reference to politics, race, and gender. He has presented numerous academic papers at conferences and published several journal articles, academic book reviews, and encyclopedia entries. One of his recent publications, “Adventists and the Military,” appeared in the Oxford Handbook of Seventh-day Adventism (2024).

His first book, tentatively titled, Apocalyptic Abolitionism: How Immediate Millennialists Helped Abolish Slavery and Reform America is under contract with New York University Press. This book argues for a strong relationship between apocalypticism and social reform politics in antebellum America. Social reform discourse and evangelical historiography have long emphasized millennialism and virtually ignored apocalypticism in political contexts. However, Apocalyptic Abolitionism treats millennialism and apocalypticism as intimately connected concepts that are distinguishable by time: the former is defined by gradualism (the millennium will eventually come), while the latter is rooted in immediatism (the millennium is coming now!). Immediacy gives millennialism apocalyptic force by positioning the “unreformed” on the threshold of doom before the arrival of prophesied violence, thus encouraging reform to avert divine judgment. This suspended nature of the apocalyptic present was a driving force within antebellum reform movements.

Burton has received some awards for his work in American religious history. In 2022, he received the Porterfield Prize, which recognizes excellence in research by a graduate student at Florida State University. In 2023, he defended his doctoral dissertation with distinction, and in 2024 he was selected to participate in the Young Scholar’s in American Religion program hosted by the Center for the Study of Religion & American Culture at Indiana University Indianapolis.

Since 2021, Burton has served at Andrews University as the Director of the Center for Adventist Research and Assistant Professor of Church History at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary. He teaches graduate courses on American religious history, historiography, and research methods. He has previously taught American religious history at Florida State University and American history at Southern Adventist University.

Jim Ford

Jim Ford
Associate Director

Jim has been the Associate Director of the Center for Adventist Research since 2003. He also serves as the liaison for the Adventist Digital Library to the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index Advisory Committee, and is active with the Association of Seventh-day Adventist Librarians.

He came to Andrews University in 1991 as the Curator of the Adventist Heritage Center, a position he held until it was integrated into the Center for Adventist Research in November 2003. Previous to coming to Andrews University he held the position of Records Manager at the Office of Archives and Statistics of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. He was also involved in the re-organization of the General Conference Library in 1982.

He holds a MA degree in American history with an emphasis on middle 19th century history, and a MLS degree in Library and Information Science with an emphasis on archival management. Both degrees were earned from the University of Maryland at College Park. He is also a graduate of Andrews University with a BA degree in history. He is responsible for day-to-day operations of the Center as well as collection management.

Katharine Van Arsdale

Katharine Van Arsdale
Digital Librarian

Katharine became the Digital Librarian for the Adventist Digital Library (ADL) in November 2021. She serves as project manager for both ADL and the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical and Obituary Index (SDAPI). Her duties include collaborating with contributors, managing digitization priorities, enhancing the ADL and SDAPI websites, and marketing these resources.

Katharine holds a BA in English from Andrews University as well as an MA in History and MSLS in Library & Information Science from the Catholic University of America. Her background includes work in academic libraries, digitization projects, and the building and maintenance of digital repositories. She taught full time at Maplewood Adventist Academy and part time at Pacific Union College as an adjunct professor in History. Katharine is active in the Association of Seventh-day Adventist Librarians, the Association of Seventh-day Adventist Historians, and the Michigan Archival Association. She recently authored Images of America: Angwin and Howell Mountain, which is available from Arcadia Publishing.

Fabio Batista

Fabio Batista
Digitization Manager

Fabio joined the Adventist Digital Library team in July of 2021. He holds a BA in Business Administration from the Brazil Adventist University (UNASP) and an MDiv from Andrews University. His duties as Digitalization Manager go from training the new staff to coordinating the team that works with video production, books and periodicals, videos, audios, and photos digitalization. He assures the quality of the digitalized material and prepares the files to be uploaded to the ADL website.

Before he came to Andrews University, he worked for several years for UNASP in Brazil as a teacher, ITS Support, Accounting assistant, and HR assistant. As a volunteer missionary, he worked in Mozambique for two and a half years as principal of Colegio Adventista da Chamba. He worked as a missionary in Egypt and for ADRA Sudan in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.

Camille Clayton

Camille Clayton
Cataloging Assistant

Camille has been the Cataloging Assistant for the Center for Adventist Research since 2004. Her attention to detail and skills in accurately identifying information make her a valuable and appreciated worker. She shares cataloging responsibility with the James White Library Bibliographic Services, but she is the principal cataloger of Center materials. Camille holds a BS degree in Management and a BA degree in French from Andrews University.

Denis Kaiser

Denis Kaiser
Research and Publication Editor

Denis holds a PhD in Adventist studies and is assistant professor of church history at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary. He began working at the Center in 2008 and has been involved with The Ellen G. White Letters and Manuscripts with Annotations, vol. 2 (1860-1863), since 2011. He serves as liaison for the Ellen G. White Estate and the Seminary, and in that role serves the Center as research and publication editor.

Rose began working as the University Archivist and Records Manager in August 1, 2023. Her duties as archivist and records manager include educating University personnel on proper records management, as well as acquiring and maintaining University records held at the Archives. Rose is an experienced librarian, having worked as a librarian for 30 years, with a qualification of master’s degree in library and information science.

Angelica Gomide

Angelica Gomide
Administrative Assistant

Angelica began working as Administrative Assistant at the Center for Adventist Research in July 2023. Her duties include assisting walk-in and online patrons with requests for research materials as well as assisting the Director and Associate Director with day-to-day operations.

Angelica and her husband, Werlei, are originally from Brazil. Their two sons were born in Massachusetts when they served in pastoral ministry for the Southern New England Conference. They have spent considerable time at Andrews University. They have also served in Maine, Arkansas, and at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary in Brazil. Angelica is pursuing a master’s degree in Library and Information Studies, concentration in Archival Studies.