2025 Men of the Year: Mark Milioni

Mark Milioni and his team at Mission University have led a turnaround of the north-side Christian higher education institution founded in 1950 as Baptist Bible College.

“My most significant leadership experience was to literally save this college,” Milioni says. “Since 2015, 124 colleges in the United States have closed. When I became president in 2012, Baptist Bible College was on the brink of becoming the 125th.”

Within his first year as president, Mission University paid $1.2 million owed to creditors, says Milioni, leading to continued accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission and the Association of Biblical Higher Education.

“This took going without a salary for my first year, developing fundraising campaigns, right-sizing our faculty and staff, consolidating programs and closing unused buildings,” he says. “All of this was done while implementing a positive culture change.”

In early 2024, Milioni and crew rolled out the school’s name change to Mission University, reflecting a desire to attract a broader Christian audience for the school that partners with the Baptist Bible Fellowship International.

“The name change removed a significant barrier. As a leader, I personally meet with every prospective student and their family when they visit our campus. I began to learn that many from southwest Missouri either didn’t know we existed or didn’t think they could attend because they thought we only served Baptists as our name, Baptist Bible College, suggested,” Milioni says. “Leading the institution through this name change took every ounce of my skills. Our community has overwhelmingly embraced the name.”

Mission University, which operates at 628 E. Kearney St., ranked No. 8 on Springfield Business Journal’s 2025 list of the area’s largest higher learning institutions. The 169-employee school reported local spring enrollment this year of 269, an 8.9% increase year over year.

Outside of his work at Mission University, Milioni serves as the pastor at the First Baptist Church of Willard. A graduate of Leadership Springfield, he has been involved with the Freeway Ministries board, through which he developed a partnership to help recovering addicts earn a college degree. As he becomes more involved with the community, Milioni says collaborating with politicians, business leaders and other universities “has been a joy and learning experience.”

“Another area of civic leadership involves working with local pastors,” Milioni adds. “Seeing the difference a pastor and a church can make in this city is a joy. While pastors serve many people each week, they are often the ones needing encouragement. Serving as a mentor to them helps fulfill this great need.”

Family: June 1 will be the 40th anniversary of being married to my favorite person in the world, Barbara. We are blessed with four children and 10, soon to be 12, grandchildren. They all live nearby, and we enjoy seeing and being with all of them a lot. Barb and I live to serve and bless our family.

Words to live by: Do right. Live out your faith. Stand strong. Give back. No matter what.

Advice to other men: “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” —1 Corinthians 16:13