The University of Mobile is establishing the Tom Elliff Center for Missions after a multi-million-dollar gift by anonymous donors. Launching in the fall 2026, the center will be designed to equip students to live out their Great Commission calling around the world.
The center will be named in honor of Tom Elliff, a pastor, preacher and missionary advocate whose ministry shaped churches and mission efforts throughout the world. He served as president of the International Mission Board.
“I am deeply grateful for the supporters who made this historic investment in our institution,” said University of Mobile President Charles Smith. “Though these dear friends insist on remaining anonymous, the Lord knows their name and continues to use them to advance the gospel around the world.”
For decades, the university has cultivated a strong Great Commission tradition — beginning each academic year with the President’s Commissioning and culminating at graduation with a charge to serve Christ faithfully in every vocation and corner of the world.
The new center will expand on this tradition by providing focused training, mentoring and hands-on opportunities for students, including weekly gatherings that equip them for missions, quarterly forums with well-known missionary leaders and scholars and mission trips that offer cross-cultural experiences.
The university will soon begin a national search for the director of the Tom Elliff Center for Missions.
