On behalf of the board of directors of In Trust, I am pleased to announce that the following persons have been elected to the board:

The four newly elected members are Howard J. Claussen (board class of 2011), Brian C. Stiller (board class of 2011), Edwin I. Hernández (board class of 2014), and Patricia A. Maloney (board class of 2014). (Brian C. Stiller previously served on the In Trust board from 2001 to 2006.)

George K. Brushaber was re-elected to a second term on the board (class of 2014).

The following persons will continue on the board of directors until their current terms are completed, or until they are re-elected to new terms: Diane T. Ashley, Robert C. Coutts, Martha J. Horne, G. Douglass Lewis, Carol E. Lytch, Jeremiah McCarthy, Roger McGrath, Anne van den Berg, and John Vissers. Christa R. Klein, president of In Trust, serves as an ex officio member of the board.

John Vissers
Board Secretary, In Trust

On December 20, 2010, John Vissers, secretary of In Trust's board of directors, announced that In Trust's member schools have elected five members of In Trust's board. They join nine other members who were elected last year and one ex officio member. Biographies of all board members are below.

Since becoming a supporting organization to its membership in July 2009, In Trust has adopted the bylaws and procedures to ensure that organization is governed by the membership through election of directors. This year, 114 ballots representing 74 percent of the electorate of 155 schools were returned. Two of these ballots were invalidated. Of the 112 valid ballots, 110 voted in the affirmative for the slate of new members, and 109 voted in the affirmative for the renewing member.  

Vissers reviewed the procedures of the election and the tally for accuracy and compliance with In Trust's revised bylaws. (A copy of the current bylaws is available here; the bylaws are being revised, and the revised bylaws will be available by request after March 2011).

The electorate was made up of schools that had paid their membership fee by September 30, 2010, held status as public charities (recognized by either the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or Revenue Canada), and were accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (or by another accrediting agency recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation).

In Trust's full membership includes more than 200 schools and organizations, including both voting members and others that did not fulfill all criteria for voting membership in 2010.

Howard J. Claussen
Class of 2011

• Retired Director of Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate Plans Department, DuPont Company, Wilmington, Delaware
• Member of the Board of Regents, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana

Howard J. Claussen was employed by DuPont for 39 years in various technical, manufacturing, marketing, and management functions before retiring in 1994.

A member of the board of directors of Valparaiso University for 18 years, Claussen served at various times on the executive, administration and finance, facilities and campus planning, and public relations and marketing committees.

Claussen and his wife, Dorcas, have four children and 13 grandchildren. He is a member of Concordia Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) in Wilmington, Delaware.

Brian C. Stiller
Class of 2011

• President, Tyndale Foundation, Toronto, Ontario
• Retired President, Tyndale University College & Seminary, Toronto, Ontario

A former national president of Youth for Christ in Canada, Brian C. Stiller served as president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada from 1983 until 1997. He founded the national magazine Faith Today and also hosted a weekly television program, Crosscurrents.

In 1995, Stiller was named president of Tyndale University College & Seminary. After his retirement as president in 2009, he was appointed to lead the school's fundraising foundation, the Tyndale Foundation, where he now is helping to raise $58 million for the purchase of a new campus. He has also served on the board of directors of the Association of Theological Schools.

Stiller and his wife, Lily, have two adult children and five grandchildren. An ordained minister in the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, he attends Cedarview Community Church in Newmarket, Ontario.

Edwin I. Hernández
Class of 2014

• Senior Program Officer for Research, Education, and Congregational Initiatives, DeVos Family Foundations, Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Research Fellow, Center for the Study of Latino Religion, Institute for Latino Studies, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana
• Member of the Board of Trustees, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan

Edwin I. Hernández was born in California and raised in Puerto Rico. After earning master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Notre Dame, he joined the faculty of Andrews University in the department of sociology. In 1996, Hernández was named vice president for academic affairs at Antillian Adventist University in Puerto Rico, and later he served as a program officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts. From 2002 to 2006, he was director of the Center for the Study of Latino Religion at Notre Dame, and today he remains as a research fellow there.

Hernández is married to Maggie Hernández, who teaches in the department of nutrition and wellness at Andrews University, and they have two grown sons. Ordained in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, he is a member of the Berrien Springs Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church in Berrien Springs, Michigan.

Patricia A. Maloney
Class of 2014

• Associate Principal Director, National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Integrated Program Office, The Aerospace Corporation, Silver Spring, Maryland
• Newly re-elected Member of the Board of Trustees, Washington Theological Union, Washington, D.C.

Patricia A. Maloney is a senior technical and programmatic executive with 30 years' experience in aerospace, defense, and energy. In her current role at The Aerospace Corporation, she provides leadership and project management for a multi-agency, multicontractor team gathering environmental data using polar orbiting spacecraft.

Maloney earned an M.B.A. at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. From 2003 to 2007, she was a member of the board of Covenant House California, a faith-based social service agency for homeless youth. She served on the board of trustees of Washington Theological Union for 2000 to 2009, and she has recently been re-elected to a term that will begin in 2011. She is currently a lector and chairs the finance council at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Reston, Virginia. 

George K. Brushaber
Class of 2014

• Vice Chair of In Trust's Board of Directors
• President Emeritus, Bethel University, St. Paul, Minnesota

George K. Brushaber served Bethel College and University for 27 years, leading the institution to university status and a name change to Bethel University. He was named president emeritus in 2008. Before being called to the presidency, Brushaber served as vice president and chief academic officer at Bethel and at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.

Brushaber has also had a dual career in religious journalism, including a decade as executive editor and chair of the editorial committee of Christianity Today. He has chaired the Minnesota Private College Council and the Consortium of Minnesota Theological Seminaries, and he has served on various national boards and organizations in higher education and ministry.

An ordained minister in the Baptist General Conference, Brushaber attends Eagle Brook Church in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

Diane Ashley
Class of 2013

• Chair of the Board of Trustees, New York Theological Seminary
• Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Before joining the Federal Reserve, Ashley was senior vice president and director of supplier diversity at Citigroup. She has also worked for The Hollins Group Inc., Eric Salmon, and Gould, McCoy and Chadick.

A Baptist lay person, Ashley serves on the board of ThinkQuest NYC.

Robert Coutts 
Class of 2012

• Board of Governors, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C.
• Retired Executive Vice President, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Electronic Systems
• Former Chair of the Board, Sandia Corporation

Coutts has served on the boards of directors of Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems, Lockheed Martin United Kingdom, and Lockheed Martin España, and he is an elected member of three New York Stock Exchange boards of directors. He is a member of the endowment investment committee at Wesley Theological Seminary and has served on the seminary's board for 12 years. He is a member of University Methodist Church in Syracuse, New York, and an associate member of Hunt's Memorial United Methodist Church in Riderwood, Maryland.

Martha Horne
Class of 2013

• Dean and President Emerita, Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, Alexandria, Virginia

Horne retired in 2007 after heading the largest Episcopal seminary for 13 years. Previously she served on the seminary's faculty for eight years and was associate dean for six. She was president of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) from 1990 to 1992 and has served on several ATS committees and task forces. A member of the executive committee and board of the Washington Theological Consortium for many years, she received its distinguished service award in 2007.

Horne is an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church. Since retiring, she has joined the faculty of CREDO, a vocational wellness initiative for clergy and lay leaders in the Episcopal Church. She also serves as dean of ATS leadership development initiatives for presidents of theological schools in the U.S. and Canada.

G. Douglass Lewis 
Class of 2012

• Chair of In Trust's Board of Directors
• President Emeritus, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C.

Lewis was named president emeritus of Wesley Theological Seminary in 2002 after having served as president for 20 years. He helped transform Wesley's board of trustees and created a program of trustee development for United Methodist seminaries. He is past president of the Association of Theological Schools and a consultant for Auburn Seminary's "Leadership That Works" research project.

Ordained in the United Methodist Church, Lewis was co-editor of A Handbook for Seminary Presidents.

Carol Lytch 
Class of 2011

• Assistant Executive Director, Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Before joining ATS, Lytch was coordinator of two Lilly endowment grant programs for theological schools. An ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Lytch has also served as a pastor and as an adjunct faculty member at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

The author of numerous articles on theological education and a fellow of the Fund for Theological Education, she is a frequent speaker on issues related to theological education.

Jeremiah McCarthy                      
Class of 2013

• Executive Director, Seminary Department, National Catholic Educational Association, Arlington, Virginia

Msgr. McCarthy is a Catholic priest of the diocese of Tucson, Arizona. In addition to ongoing service as an associate pastor and administrator in that diocese, he served for 18 years as professor of moral theology, academic dean, and rector-president of St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, California. From 2002 to 2009, he was director of accreditation and institutional evaluation and secretary to the Board of Commissioners for the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS).

Roger McGrath
Class of 2011

• Treasurer of In Trust's Board of Directors
• Vicar General and Director of Seminarians, Catholic Diocese of Camden, New Jersey

A Catholic priest of the diocese of Camden, New Jersey, Msgr. McGrath served as both an associate pastor and pastor of parishes in the diocese before he was named director of diocesan relations at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Later he served on the faculty and then as vice rector of St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore. McGrath has also served on the boards of both institutions. For 12 years he was treasurer of the Catholic Theological Society of America.

Anne van den Berg
Class of 2013

• Chair of the Governance Committee of In Trust's Board of Directors
• Board of Trustees, St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, New York

In addition to her service on the board of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, van den Berg has served as parish council president for the Orthodox Church of St. Stephen the Protomartyr in Orlando, Florida, and as capital campaign director for the parish. At St. Vladimir's she spearheaded a summer internship program for students.

Admitted to the bar in two states, van den Berg currently tends her family of six children ranging age from grade school to college.

John Vissers  
Class of 2012

• Secretary of In Trust's Board of Directors
• Principal, The Presbyterian College, Montreal

Before joining The Presbyterian College in 1999, Vissers held academic posts at Knox College and then at Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto, where he continues to be an adjunct professor. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church in Canada, Vissers has pastored three Presbyterian congregations, including the historic Knox Presbyterian Church in Toronto.

Vissers is the author of two books and many articles and editorials for a variety of publications.

Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Directors

Christa Klein  

• President, In Trust

Klein was cofounder of In Trust in 1989 and served on the organization's board from 1995 until 2003. For the past six years, she has served as president and executive director of In Trust, overseeing an expansion of its services and its transformation into a true member service organization with an award-winning magazine and on-site services promoting good governance among North American theological schools.

Over 30 years, Klein has worked as an independent consultant on governance and on teaching and learning in theological education with Lilly Endowment Inc., the Bonfils Stanton Trust, the Association of Governing Boards, the Association of Theological Schools, and with several dozen theological seminaries. She formerly taught American church history at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and American Catholic history at St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore, where she was founding dean of its Center for Continuing Formation. She has also served on the board of trustees of Valparaiso University.