New Presidents Institute

Dr. Sherilyn Emberton, President of Huntington University, began her presidency in June 2013 and has made a significant impact by helping to launch HU’s first doctoral program in occupational therapy, the Haupert Institute for Agricultural Studies and the Arizona Center for Digital Media Arts.

Currently, Dr. Emberton is the chair of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership’s Governing Board and sits on the board for the Regional Chamber of Northeast Indiana. Sherilyn is the Director of Higher Education for the US National Conference, United Brethren Church in Christ. In addition, she is designated director of the Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI) and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. She is also a member of the Executive Board for Indiana AgriNovus. Dr. Emberton also serves as a board member for the CCCU.

Erik serves as the President at Dordt University as part of his personal mission statement to ‘Grow People and Grow Organizations to Glorify God and Grow the Kingdom’.

Erik holds a bachelor degree in history and philosophy from Trinity Christian College, a Master’s Degree in International Management from The Rotterdam School of Management of Erasmus University in the Netherlands, and a Ph.D. in Organizational Learning and Human Resource Development from Iowa State University. His research interests include corporate culture, servant leadership, and organizational effectiveness.

He has co-authored several publications on coaching, delegation, servant leadership, and change management, including The Manager as Change Agent, (Perseus 2000).  He and his wife, Barb, have four children, two of which are international adoptions.           

Shirley Mullen served 15 years as President of Houghton College, Houghton, N.Y., retiring in May 2021. She has spent four decades in the work of faith based liberal arts education. Prior to becoming Houghton’s president, she served at various times as a classroom professor, chief academic officer and residence life director. She is an avid life-long learner with earned doctorates in both history and philosophy, focusing in her studies on the Enlightenment period and its complex impact on the Modern World, on liberal learning, and on our understanding of the human condition.  

As President Emerita, she continues to speak, write, and consult, as well as to encourage and develop the next generation of leaders through mentoring and serving on the boards of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, Jericho Road Community Health Center, the National Association of Evangelicals, Fuller Seminary, and the First Amendment Partnership.

Dr. Deana L. Porterfield is the 11th President of Roberts Wesleyan College and the third President of Northeastern Seminary. She is a visionary leader with a passion for faith-based higher education which promotes transformational learning and hope.

Dr. Porterfield serves on a number of boards including the CCCU, the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce and The Palmer Family of Companies. 

Dr. Porterfield has been recognized as one of the Rochester Business Journal Power 100 list for 2021, a 2020 ATHENA Finalist, the 2018 Rochester Prism Executive of the Year, and a Rochester Business Journal 2018 Inaugural Women of Excellence.

President Porterfield earned a doctorate in organizational leadership from the University of La Verne.  She also holds a master’s degree in organizational management and a bachelor’s degree in music from Azusa Pacific University.

Porterfield lives in Rochester, NY with her husband Doug.  They have two married daughters and four grandchildren.

Dr. Phil Schubert became Abilene Christian University’s 11th president in June 2010. During his tenure, total enrollment surpassed 5,300 for the first time in history, and nearly 44 percent of ACU’s student body is racially and ethnically diverse. ACU’s branch campus, ACU Dallas, enrolls more than 1,700 adult learners in online doctoral, master’s, bachelor’s and certificate programs.

For the third year in a row, ACU is the highest-ranking university in Texas in a U.S. News & World Report benchmark focused on student success. It achieved Top 10 status in three of eight high-impact categories among 1,500 universities in the nation and was the only one in Texas recognized in four of the eight categories.

Dr. Schubert received his BBA from ACU, an MBA from Duke University and an Ed.D. in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.

Andrew Westmoreland’s career in higher education spans 43 years, including a combined total of 23 years as president of two institutions, Samford University in Alabama and Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas. His degrees are in political science and higher education. Westmoreland served as chair of the Board of Trustees for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and in 2022 he received the Eileen Tosney Award for Career Leadership in Higher Education, the AAUA’s highest individual recognition. Jeanna, his wife of 42 years, is also a career educator, having served as Chair of the Arkansas State Board of Education.

David Wright served as president at Indiana Wesleyan University from 2013 to 2022.  He was provost and chief academic officer for five years prior to his election as president in May 2013. Before coming back to IWU in 2008, he was dean of the School of Theology at Azusa Pacific University. 

Dr. Wright holds the Bachelor of Arts degree in Christian Ministries from Indiana Wesleyan University, the Master of Arts in Biblical Studies from George Fox University, and the Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation from the University of Kentucky.  He has published three books, Finding Freedom From Fear: A Contemporary Study from the Psalms, Wisdom as a Lifestyle: Building Biblical Life-codes, and How God Makes the World a Better Place: A Wesleyan Primer on Faith, Work, and Economic Transformation.

Dr. Wright was born and raised in the Philippines by missionary parents. David and his wife Helen, have been married since 1977.  They have two adult daughters and four grandchildren.