James E. Paton

Bio

Professor Jim Paton comes to Southeastern with a background in education and ministry. He has taught special needs high school students in the Polk County, Florida School District and has served as an ordained minister in the local church; teaching, leading worship, and doing pastoral counseling. He came to faith while serving in the Air Force as a special operations Pararescueman. Since the inception of his faith, Paton has taken an interest in counseling and psychology. Understanding who we are in Christ and who we are through the lens of psychology has been a lifelong pursuit. As a professor, Paton is intentional about fusing faith and psychology as informed by God’s word, psychological research, and the Spirit’s guidance and counsel.
Professor Paton enjoys staying current in the field of general and developmental psychology. Watching developmental theory come to life with infants, children, and adolescents in the classroom has been a highlight. Overall, engaging and involving students with a relevant psychology is his teaching passion year-after-year. In 2013 Paton was awarded the Most Outstanding Faculty Award and in 2017 he received the Faculty Advising Award.