Leslie Earl Maxwell (July 2, 1895 – February 4, 1984), was an American-born Canadian educator and minister. Maxwell was born in

Salina, Kansas Salina is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,889. In the early 1800s, the Kanza tribal land reached eastward from the middle of the Kansas Territory. In 1858 ...

in 1895 to Edwin Hugh and Marion (née Anderson) Maxwell. He was a graduate of the Midland Bible Institute, a short lived school of the

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. He was invited to come to the town of

Three Hills, Alberta Three Hills is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It takes its name from the three somewhat-larger-than-normal hills to its north. History Three Hills post office dates from 1904. Three Hills was incorporated as a village in 1912, the yea ...

by J. Fergus Kirk, a

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lay preacher and farmer. Maxwell's assignment was to teach the Bible to the local young people through a structured curriculum he was to develop. On October 9, 1922 the

Prairie Bible Institute Prairie College is an interdenominational Christian College located in the town of Three Hills, Alberta, Canada. Founded as Prairie Bible Institute, classes began on October 9, 1922, on the property of the McElheran family farm. History A local ...

was opened with eight students. L. E. Maxwell readily became the school's dynamic principal and eventual president. Under his leadership Prairie Bible Institute grew to become Canada's premier

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training center with international influence among

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. In addition to the Bible School in Three Hills, another Bible Institute was initiated in the north at

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and a Christian Academy was added on the Three Hills campus in the 1930s. After Maxwell's death in 1984 two more post-secondary schools were created to train missionary pilots and professional trades personnel. Today, as many as 900 students study each year at one of these five schools founded or influenced by L.E. Maxwell. Over the course of his teaching ministry Maxwell authored several books including ''Born Crucified'', ''Crowded to Christ'', ''Abandoned to Christ'', and ''World Missions: Total War''. Another book he had been working on, ''Women In Ministry'', was published after Maxwell's death by co-author and fellow Bible educator, Ruth Dearing. After 58 years as principal, president and professor, L. E. Maxwell retired in the spring of 1980 near the age of 85.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, Leslie 1895 births 1984 deaths Canadian university and college chief executives