FROM PROFESSOR TO SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT
— JANET SOMMERS —  “Christ-centered higher education promotes both knowledge and action,” says Janet Sommers, Ph.D., who after 18 years of excellence in teaching and leading the Department of English & Literature at Northwestern transitioned to Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs in January 2010. “It fosters in students a compelling desire to pursue truth and lifelong learning and to use knowledge and skills for the good of others and, ultimately, for the glory of God.”
Students aren’t the only beneficiaries when a biblical worldview is combined with academic rigor, notes Sommers, who also served as a key leader in developing Northwestern’s Biblical Worldview Core Curriculum. “Teaching from a biblical worldview enables the faculty to demonstrate God’s beauty, love, revelation, and redemption, while encouraging them to address with courage and confidence, issues that seemingly resist or conflict with God’s truth. Now an administrator with a teacher’s heart, Sommers is passionate about upholding Northwestern’s commitment to Christ-centered education because “we participate in the transformation of our students’ lives.” Above all, she values being able to work in a place “where students and faculty strive together to fulfill God’s plan regarding their scholarly work and vocation.”
Read more about this story BRINGING ANCIENT HISTORY TO LIFE
— MICHAEL O. WISE —
 When the Science Museum of Minnesota hosted the exhibit, “Dead Sea Scrolls: Words that Changed the World” in 2010, they called upon Michael O. Wise, Ph.D., (Biblical & Theological Studies) for assistance. Wise is a world- recognized expert on the scrolls and author of several books on the topic, including the highly regarded The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation.
Working closely with exhibit curators and other advisors, Wise helped plan the entire exhibit, which included artifacts, pictures, placards and interactive media. “My personal goal,” said Wise, “was that this would be the best exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls there has ever been, helping to answer such questions as ‘Who wrote them?’ ‘How did we get the Bible?’ and ‘How did it come together?’”
In conjunction with the exhibit’s presence in St. Paul, Northwestern hosted several events featuring Wise, drawing more than 3,000 people to campus to hear from the expert that students have the incredible opportunity to learn from on a regular basis.
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FARMER TO PHILOSOPHER TO DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR
— WALTER SCHULTZ —
 In 2010, the Thomas F. Staley Foundation selected Walter Schultz, Ph.D., (Philosophy, Biblical & Theological Studies) as a Staley Distinguished Scholar, recognizing his work on Christian responses to market economics and poverty.
“Our identity is neither in property ownership, nor in our place in the economic game,” said Schultz. “We are stewards of whatever talents, gifts, grace and wealth God has entrusted to us.”
In his forties, Schultz changed careers from farming to philosophy professor. Fourteen years ago, he argued his doctoral case with Nobel Prize winner Leonid Hurwicz (Economics, 2007), who was then the Regents Professor of Economics at the University of Minnesota.
“When I began teaching,” Schultz recounts, “the most pleasant surprise for me was that these students seemed like my sons and daughters. They seemed like my kids. And I wanted them to be strong in the Lord. And that’s remained till this day.”
The philosopher takes seriously his responsibility to his students and the families that send them to college. “That’s some father’s daughter, that’s some mother’s son, just leaving the nest,” he says. “And on my watch, I can look that father, that mother in the eye and say, ‘I gave them all my best academically and to establish them strong in Christ.’”
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FULBRIGHT EXPERIENCE IN JAPAN OPENS DOORS
— LISANNE WINSLOW—  “Biology is part of my life,” says Professor of Biology Lisanne Winslow, Ph.D. “I love it, and it’s my way of getting to people who may not otherwise hear the Gospel.”
Winslow has no problem combining science with faith. Her 2009 visit to Japan as a recipient of a Fulbright Scholar Award for Research and Lecturing overseas allowed her to integrate science, faith and life in many ways. The experience was unforgettable, and her connections there continue to have an impact on Northwestern and beyond. Her research with sea urchins in Japan is being used by the Japanese government to establish pollution control policy. Ongoing collaborative research on the immune system pathways in marine invertebrates, with her Japanese colleague Dr. Koji Akasaka of the Misaki Marine Biological Station of the University of Tokyo, is scheduled for publication in an upcoming scientific journal. Winslow’s ability to engage with students and colleagues has also opened doors of opportunity for NWC biology students. In spring 2011 she will lead a group of 10 students to Japan to partner with 10 University of Tokyo students for an intercultural intensive marine biology course.
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