About the ISV Foundation
The ISV Foundation is a non-profit, tax-exempt educational corporation. It does not solicit public contributions, nor does it make solicited private or public grants.
Board of Directors
George Giacumakis, Ph.D. (Emeritus)
Dr. George Giacumakis was Professor of History & Director Emeritus of the California State University, Fullerton – Irvine Campus (1963-1979 & 1985-2008). He was also Professor & Chair of the History & Political Science Department of Biola University, La Mirada, CA (2008-2010). He formerly served as President and Executive Director, American Institute of Holy Land Studies (now Jerusalem University College) on Mt. Zion, Jerusalem, Israel (1978-1984). He passed away on 6 April 2019.
William P. Welty, Ph.D.
Dr. Welty is the Executive Director of the ISV Foundation. A graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.Div., 1978) and Louisiana Baptist University (Ph.D. in Communications, 2005), he taught New Testament Greek for 10 years at Simon Greenleaf University (now part of Trinity Law School, Santa Ana, California).
Steven Elwart, Ph.D.
Dr. Elwart holds a Ph.D. from Louisiana Baptist University. He has spent 40 years in the Oil Industry, covering the areas of Exploration & Production and Refining. During his career, Elwart has been responsible for crude oil selection and custody transfers, planning and economics & process engineering. Currently, Elwart is currently working in the areas of Information Technology and Industrial Control Systems, but has worked in other areas as diverse as refining, retail sales and fleeting operations. Steve Elwart has served as Director of Systems Engineering, Chief Process Engineer and Manager of Economics and Planning several oil national and international companies. Elwart is extensively involved in management roles with universities, state & federal government agencies and professional technical societies. He is a member of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association and was the recipient of the 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award with that organization. Elwart is also a past member of the advisory board for Emerson Process Management and Invensys Process Automation. He is currently working with the Departments of Homeland Security and Energy as a Subject Matter Expert on cyber security and Petroleum Refining. Elwart is also a member of Oil & Natural Gas Sector Coordinating Committee as well as several federal Control System Working Groups. In those roles, he helped craft the “Roadmap to Secure Control Systems in the Energy Sector”.
Historical Background
The ISV Foundation, a biblical studies research center, is a combination of two distinct visions.
- LEARN, Inc. was founded as a nonprofit organization in 1967 under the direction of Mr. William Whitney, Fullerton College Reference Librarian. Other members of the Board who shared this vision were Dr. Robert Carpenter, Medical Doctor; Dr. George Giacumakis, Professor of History at California State University, Fullerton; and Dr. Irving Ahlquist, Professor of History at California State University, Long Beach. Over the years, LEARN, Inc. has produced microfilm and microfiche copies of out-of-print books and documents for personal research libraries of ministers and Christian workers. Thousands of books and documents, available only through such media, were produced through this organization.
- The second vision was that put forth in 1986 by Mr. William P. Welty to develop a research center that would produce an updated version of the Hebrew Old Testament text. From this proposed first project would flow other related academic materials for the biblical scholar. Both of these visions came together in 1996 under The ISV Foundation.
Importance of the Bible
People of faith throughout the centuries have recorded the revelation of God pertaining to the affairs of daily life. The experiences of prophets, kings, and common people have been communicated through the written text of Scripture. Jewish and Christian scholars have been concerned to make sure that the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts would be communicated to each new generation.
Even though governments and rulers have attempted to prevent the distribution of the translated Bible in many periods of history, faithful scholars such as John Wycliffe and William Tyndale gave their very lives to translate and distribute the books of the Bible. In every period of revival and renewal in the church, the Bible was central. This awesome history compels The ISV Foundation to undertake such projects as those listed below.
Projects of the Foundation
The ISV Foundation undertakes to produce accurate biblical materials both in printed and electronic formats for use around the world. Projects that are currently being developed include:
- A computer network based on biblical texts located in different countries
- Critical editions of the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts of the Bible
- Translations from the various texts of the Old and New Testaments
- Bible related computer software
- Critical textual commentaries on the Old and New Testaments
It is our prayer that through using these tools believers will grow to love the Scriptures more, will seek to apply them more faithfully to their lives, will interpret them with greater clarity, and will teach them more fervently.