Members of the 2016-17 Leadership Development Initiative cohort include the following individuals: administrators Danae Allen, Dwayne Astleford, Ryan Backman, Grant Burns, Tiona Cage, Megan Janes, Darla Norgren, Chris Pulver, John Regier, Darby Thiessen and Jane Wilson; staff members Jesse Dillow and Joel Schutter; and faculty Rae Casey, Brent Weaver and Donna Webb.
Greg Allen (Adult Degree Programs), in his role as part of the inaugural Applied Information Management Board of Directors at the University of Oregon, will speak as a panelist to about 2,500 CIOs at the Premier CIO Forum this October in Portland. He will speak on the topic “10 keys for Successful Leaders.†The opportunity to speak came from alumni recommendations and connections from other boards Greg serves on.
Paul Otto (History) gave the commencement address at Providence Christian College in Pasadena, Calif., where his daughter graduated, on May 7. The title of his address was “Building in God’s Kingdom: Architects, Builders, and Fixers.†Paul was also recently appointed coeditor of the Journal of Early American History, published by Brill Press.
The third volume of the Friends Association for Higher Education “Quakers and the Disciplines†series has been published, and George Fox professors are featured prominently in the publication, titled Quakers and Literature. Paul Anderson (Christian Studies) serves as the series editor, and English professors Bill Jolliff and Ed Higgins are featured as authors. Jolliff’s essay, titled “The Practice of Writing: A Quaker Poet’s Perspective,†grew out of his keynote address at the FAHE conference. Ed’s essay was titled, “Going Naked as a Sign: Quaker Utopianism and the Alien Other in Joan Slonczewski’s A Door Into Ocean.â€
Ed Higgins’ (English) poem, “Mermaid Tale,†was featured in the April 2016 edition of poeticdiversity: the litzine of Los Angeles. He also published a flash fiction story, “Henny Penny on Why She Crossed the Road,†in the British quarterly Tigershark Magazine (Issue 10, May 12, 2016).
Paul Anderson (Christian studies) presented a paper, “Why the Gospel of John is Fundamental to Jesus Research,†at the Princeton-Prague Symposium on the Historical Jesus at Princeton Theological Seminary in March. George Fox graduates at Princeton Theological Seminary and Yale Divinity School attended the session, which focused on “Illustrating How to Use the Gospel of John in Jesus Research.†In addition, Paul’s television interview with “Salt & Light,†on David Gibson’s book Finding Jesus, recently aired in Toronto. Paul also preached at the Scottsdale First Baptist Church in March and has spoken at four churches in Oregon recently, displaying The Saint John’s Bible and speaking on biblical themes. Finally, Paul organized a public event this spring at the Chehalem Cultural Center, “Not in the Name of My Religion!,†in which he and Harris Zafar challenged the yoking of Christianity and Islam to violence.
Cherice Bock’s (Seminary) paper, “Climatologists, Theologians, & Prophets: Toward an Ecotheology of Critical Hope,†appeared in the May 2016 issue of the journal Cross Currents, and she presented a poster on the topic at Harvard Divinity School’s Spirit of Sustainable Agriculture Conference. She also reviewed “Rewilding the Way,†which will appear in the June 2016 issue of Sojourners magazine.
