Gordon Bietz began his career in Northern California, and has since served as teacher, pastor, and president of the Georgia-Cumberland Conference, recently retiring after 19 years as president of Southern Adventist University. He now serves as part-time director for higher education for the Association of Adventist Colleges and Universities (AACU), a consortium of 13 institutions that collaborate on marketing and enrollment projects. He and his wife, Cynthia, have adult twin daughters and six grandchildren.