Dr. Ott occupies the ReachGlobal Chair of Mission at TEDS, which was established to link the mission agency and seminary, integrating mission theory and practice. His particular fields of expertise include theology of mission, contextualization, church planting, and teaching across cultures. He previously served twenty-one years in Germany with ReachGlobal (formerly the EFCA International Mission).

He has planted churches in Schaumburg, Illinois, and in Munich, Ingolstadt, Neumarkt, and Markt Indersdorf, Germany. From 1995 to 2002 Dr. Ott served as Central Europe Church Planting Consultant for ReachGlobal, and from 1998 to 2002 he taught at the Akademie für Weltmission in Korntal, Germany, where he continues to teach regularly as an adjunct professor.

He also served from 1994-2020 as adjunct faculty at Theologische Hochschule Ewersbach (Germany). He has taught or consulted national and mission leaders in forty different countries.

Dr. Ott and his wife Alice live in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, and have three grown sons. 

Teaching and Learning across Cultures: A Guide to Theory and Practice (Baker Academic 2021)

The Church on Mission: A Biblical Vision for Transformation among All People (Baker Academic 2019)Against the Tide: Mission amidst the Global Currents of Secularization (William Carey 2019), coeditor

The Mission of the Church: Five Views in Conversation (Baker Academic 2016), editor

Missionary Methods: Research, Reflections, and Realities (William Carey 2013), coeditor

Global Church Planting (Baker Academic 2011), coauthor

Encountering Theology of Mission (Baker Academic 2010), coauthor

Globalizing Theology (Baker Academic 2006), coeditor