Leadership
Shirley Roels
Executive Director
Dr. Shirley Roels is the Executive Director. A longtime member of INCHE, she began formal leadership of INCHE on September 1, 2017. Dr. Roels previously served as the U.S. national director for the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE). This group of over 200 colleges and universities in the United States was supported by the Council of Independent Colleges to enhance and promote the intellectual and theological exploration of vocation among undergraduate students. With Dr. Roels’ leadership, NetVUE provided conferences, developmental seminars for faculty and staff professionals, project grants, campus consultants, and online resources. During her tenure, NetVUE Scholars published three books about the theological exploration of vocation with Oxford University Press. Further details about NetVUE are available at: https://www.cic.edu/programs/NetVUE
A graduate of Calvin College, Dr. Roels earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. degree in university administration from Michigan State University. Her first appointment in Christian higher education was with the University of Detroit-Mercy, where she became director of cost and financial analysis. Then she came to Calvin College to teach in the economics and business program, which she eventually chaired. During her career of more than three decades at Calvin, Dr. Roels served in a great variety of capacities: directing adult degree programs, leading as Dean of Academic Administration and then as Dean of Research and Scholarship. She then directed the college’s comprehensive vocation initiatives as well as the Van Lunen Center for the Executive Management of Christian Schools.
As a longtime member of INCHE, Dr. Roels has been a pioneer in developing Christian approaches and perspectives in the field of business and management. She has co-edited or co-authored several book-length studies, most notably Business through the Eyes of Faith (Harper and Row, 1990); On Moral Business, Classical and Contemporary Resources on Business Ethics (Eerdmans, 1995), and Organization Man, Organization Woman: Calling, Leadership and Culture (Abingdon, 1997). Her work includes the editing of a spring 2015 issue of the Journal of Markets & Morality focusing on business life in the light of God's grace. She published an article in the journal of Christian Higher Education that began as a presentation during INCHE's April 2016 European conference, provided a paper for the INCHE April 2018 conference in New Zealand, and contributed a presentation at the INCHE November 2018 All-Africa conference. She continues to write scholarly reviews of new publications.
Fernando Bullon
Regional Coordinator, Latin-America Region
Dr. Bullón is currently professor of theology and development with the Latin American Doctoral Program (PRODOLA), and a member of the adjunct faculty of the Universidad Evangélica de las Americas (UNELA) as well as at the Seminario Nazareno de las Americas (SENDAS), both in Costa Rica. He is a member of the Latin American Theological Fellowship (LATF). Dr. Bullón has an interdisciplinary background in fields of agro-industrial engineering (B.Sc. & Lic. Eng.), anthropology (Dip.), economics (MSc), educational administration (MA), development studies (Ph.D.) and Latin American studies (D.Phil). He received his Ph.D. in economic and social studies at the University of Manchester and did specialized studies in theology and development at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (OCMS), both in the U.K.
Dr. Bullón has served many roles in his career including as a pastor, general secretary (student & professional org.), executive director (development programs), academic dean, professor, author, and board member in various organizations and projects around Central and South America as well as with INCHE. He has authored several books and other publications on the topics of mission, ethics, and Latin American and development studies.
In 2022, he co-edited the book, Universidad Christiana Renovada Semper Reformanda Est: Higher Education, Christian Identity, and Public Impact in Latin America, the result of the 7th INCHE Latin American Consultation, held online in December 2020 in partnership with the Fraternidad Teologica Latinamericana (FTL) and the Comunidad de Estudios Teologicos Interdisciplinarios (CETI).
Lydia Bor
Regional Coordinator, Europe
Lydia Bor is the International Officer, Driestar Christian University for Teacher Education, the Netherlands. In 1944 Driestar Christian University started as a small institute, teaching courses for young Christian teachers. Today the university supports teachers and schools in Christian teaching in the Netherlands and in many countries around a world that has changed in every aspect because of globalization in the last few decades. For her university, Lydia Bor directs the Erasmus plus educational exchange programme and arranges collaborative online international learning for Driestar students and their many global partners. In 2016 Lydia Bor coordinated the INCHE Europe conference that occurred in Biezenmortal, the Netherlands. She organized data, notes, plans, processes, resources, and timing related to the development of INCHE Europe events and network relationships. Since 2018, she has been the INCHE Europe coordinator and was involved significantly in planning for the April 2022 INCHE Europe conference in Budapest.
Daniel Ezhilarasu
Regional Coordinator, India
Dr. Daniel Ezhilarasu is a seasoned educational administrator with rich experience. For eight years he was Principal and Secretary of the well-known Voorhees College, where he had 38 years of teaching experience. Subsequently, he served as the General Secretary of the All India Association for Christian Higher Education (AIACHE).
Dr. Ezhilarasu holds an M.A., in Sociology and Bachelor of Divinity degree from the Senate of the Serampore College to accompany his PhD in medical sociology. The results of his research are published in his book, “Socio-cultural Factors Influencing Promiscuous Sexual Behavior.” Additionally, he studied for a year at Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham, U.K., receiving a certificate in cross cultural communications. Further, in Singapore he participated in the Haggai Institute’s international leadership training initiative.
An alumnus of Voorhees College and Madras Christian College, Tambaram, Dr. Ezhilarasu took over the reins of Voorhees College at a critical time in 2003. This college, a renowned institution previously known as American Arcot Mission college in Vellore, is a 123 year-old Christian institution that began with support from the Reformed Church of America. He was instrumental in a needed sea change for the college, developing its infrastructure, strengthening the alumni association, and infusing enthusiasm throughout the college. Under his leadership, the college was accredited with the A grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council of India. In 2005, AIACHE gave him their Best Principal Award for his outstanding service.
After his retirement as Principal, Dr. Daniel Ezhilarasu became the General Secretary of AIACHE for more than six years. He served as a member of the governing boards in many Christian colleges and universities. Also, he was a member of the National Monitoring Committee for Minorities Education, Ministry of HRD, Government of India.
At many points Dr. Daniel Ezhilarasu has provided church-related leadership. He served on the Executive Committee of the Synod of the Church of South India and its Council for Higher Education. He participated in the tenth Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Busan, South Korea as a delegate from AIACHE. Currently, he is the Hon. Director for Education Ministry for the Synod of the Church of South India.
Abraham Waigi
West Africa Coach
Five west African teams are working with Dr. Abraham Waigi Ng’ang’a as their project coach. Dr Waigi grew up in Kenya. After completing his doctorate in theology, he served for thirteen years as a professor of theology and literature at the Akrofi-Christaller Institute, Ghana. He continues to teach there each year; but he now reside in Liverpool, U.K., where he is a research fellow with the Andrew Walls Centre for the Study of African and Asian Christianity at Liverpool Hope University.
Steven Nduto
East & South Africa Coach
Steven Nduto, is the project coach for the three-person teams from east and south Africa. Steven Nduto grew up in Kenya. After completing advanced degrees in religion and philosophy, he served for thirteen years as the chaplain of Daystar Christian University. Then he continued doctoral work in religion studies. Now he is a lecturer in the Daystar University Department of Religious Studies (Nairobi campus.)
Heather Altena
Administrative Assistant
Heather Altena will begin her time at INCHE in August of 2023, taking the baton from INCHE’s communications intern, Sarah Gregson. Heather Altena graduated from Calvin University in 1991 with a BA in Education and promptly moved to Vancouver, Canada. Over the last thirty years, she has worked in Vancouver, Washington, and the Chicago area. Though she started in the classroom, over the years she was absorbed into the school library. She worked for fifteen years in the library at Southwest Chicago Christian Schools in elementary and high school, adding play directing, devotion-writing for ReFrame Media, and web director for the Christian Educator Journal, until the siren song of teaching began to call again. Then she added AP Literature to her roster. She was then lured into administration as a curriculum coordinator.
She brings to INCHE almost twenty years of experience in K-12 Christian education and administration, the organization and research skills of a librarian, the passion for the larger human story of an AP Lit teacher, the edge-of-chaos-event-planning of a middle school play director, the concision of a children's devotional writer, and the curiosity to meet and connect global experts in Christian higher education.