LILLY NETWORK LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
As colleges and universities face a variety of extraordinary challenges, the Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities has launched an innovative new program to advance the mission of church-related higher education and help ensure that the wisdom, responsibility, and faith it engenders can carry forward in today’s world.
The new Lilly Network Leadership Institute brings together administrators new to their roles. In an immersive two-year program, together they will explore the perspectives, practices, and principles that can prepare them to navigate successfully the day-to-day challenges and opportunities of leadership. The goal is to help strengthen their current effectiveness and also help them discern if they’re called to take on more responsibility in a senior-level position.
Ecumenical in scope and consisting of five meetings over two years, the program allows participants to develop a trusted community of colleagues. In addition, one-on-one mentorships provide guidance from senior administrators and opportunities to learn firsthand from their experiences.
Nominations and applications are now open to administrators who are currently in their first or second year in their leadership role. The cost for the Institute is $1500. Travel, meals, and lodging for all events will be provided, and scholarships are available.
Please contact jenna.vansickle@valpo.edu with questions. For eligibility questions, see our FAQ. Applications must include this cover sheet, signed by all parties listed. Apply and nominate by clicking the green buttons below.
Institute Schedule
Nomination deadline: December 31, 2025 (optional)
Application deadline: January 31, 2026
Cohort announced: March 2026
Meeting 1—June 11-14, 2026
Meeting 2—October 1-3, 2026 (Lilly Network Administrators Workshop with additional day)
Meeting 3—June 17-19, 2027
Meeting 4—October 2027-date TBD (Lilly Network Administrators Workshop with additional day)
Meeting 5—June 15-17, 2028
Applications and nominations are open for the Lilly Network Leadership Institute. Applications are due January 31, 2026.
LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE CONVENERS
Shirley Mullen, Ph.D.
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. Her book, Claiming the Courageous Middle: Daring to Live and Work Together for a More Hopeful Future, was recently published in April 2024 by Baker Academic.
Thomas Hibbs, Ph.D.
Thomas Hibbs is the J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Professor of Philosophy and Dean Emeritus at Baylor University, where he was the inaugural dean of the Honors College (2003-2019). At Baylor, he was the founding Director of Baylor in Washington, D.C. (2015-2019). He currently directs the Baylor summer program in D.C. on religion and social life. Hibbs has a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame and served as a tutor at Thomas Aquinas College, Full Professor and Department Chair of Philosophy at Boston College, and President of the University of Dallas. He previously served as a Faculty Mentor for the Lilly Graduate Fellows Program (2013-2016).
Hibbs has published eight books, including Theology of Creation: Ecology, Art, and Laudato Si’, published by University of Notre Dam Press (2023), and more than fifty scholarly articles including “Aquinas and Black Natural Law,” Nova et Vetera 21 (2023).
He has been a regular contributor to National Review Online, where he reviewed films for fifteen years, and to the Dallas Morning News, as an op-ed columnist. He has published more than 100 articles on film, theater, art, and higher education in a variety of venues including First Things, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Wall Street Journal.
Hibbs has led intellectual and spiritual retreats for faculty at both the university and high school levels and for college students in numerous venues.