The International Network for Christian Higher Education is pleased to announce its incoming Executive Director, Dr. Deborah Haarsma, astrophysicist, professor, and Christian scholar. She will succeed Dr. Shirley Roels who led the organization for eight years and will step aside by the end of 2025.
After a thorough search process, the search committee with the INCHE Board of Directors selected her for her Christian commitments as well as her wide range of experience. In its formal announcement, board leaders write:
"With overwhelming gratitude for our Lord's guidance throughout the entire search process, we welcome Dr. Deborah Haarsma as the next Executive Director of the International Network for Christian Higher Education (INCHE). As a Christian university graduate, she understands personally how transformative such an experience can be for a student. As a former faculty member of a Christian university, she understands how a biblical worldview is integral to the educational journey of each and every student at an INCHE institution. As a former CEO of a Christian ministry, she understands what is required of a leader. She is the right person at the right time with the right giftedness to lead INCHE into the future and build upon the strong foundation created by Dr. Shirley Roels."
Dr. Haarsma builds on more than fifteen years of teaching experience, including four years serving as the chair of a Department of Physics and Astronomy. Most recently, for more than a decade she has served as the President of BioLogos, an organization that shows the many ways that faith and science work hand in hand to address the challenges facing the church and the world today.
In accepting this call to serve INCHE, Dr. Haarsma notes that, "I've respected INCHE for many years and am eager to serve Jesus Christ alongside you in Christian higher education. It is an honor to follow Shirley’s excellent leadership and to have her counsel in the next chapter."
As Dr. Haarsma begins in her role in November 2025, current Executive Director Shirley Roels adds, “I am delighted that Dr. Deborah Haarsma will succeed me as the Executive Director of INCHE. She has the vision, gifts, and passion for this global effort to foster Christian higher education worldwide. As I support INCHE in other ways, Deb is the right person for such a time as this. The network will be blessed by her leadership; and I am eager to support her efforts.”
This November Dr. Haarsma and Dr. Roels will participate together in the final INCHE 50thanniversary conference hosted by Handong Global University in Korea. Further details about Dr. Haarsma’s background and preparation to lead INCHE are available on the INCHE website at: https://inche.one/new-director and will be discussed in the December issue of Current, the INCHE newsletter.