Christian Thinking as Pilgrimage Conference

Douglas “Jake” Jacobsen (Ph.D., University of Chicago) and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen (Ed.D., Temple University) co-direct the Religion in the Academy (RITA) Project, devoted to examining the place and role of faith in American higher education. Christianity and Intellectual Inquiry: Thinking as Pilgrimage (2025) is their fourth book with Oxford University Press. Rhonda is Professor Emerita of Psychology and served as Director of Faculty Development at Messiah University. Jake is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Church History and Theology, also at Messiah, and author of several books on global Christianity.   

Dr. Karen Lee has served as provost of Wheaton College, where she holds the faculty rank of Professor of English. An accomplished poet, fiction writer, literary critic, and translator, Dr. Lee is a former voting member of the National Book Critics Circle and a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Individual Artist’s Grant. Dr. Lee previously served as vice provost of assessment and Institutional Effectiveness at Point Loma Nazarene University and as chair of the English Department at Vanguard University of Southern California. She received an M.F.A. in fiction writing from Brown and an M.A. in English (poetry writing) and PhD in English from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Rob Pepper serves as president of Huntington University. He holds a Master of Science degree in counseling from Shippensburg University, a PhD in organizational leadership from Regent University, and a certificate in Management & Leadership in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Previously, Dr. Pepper served at Messiah University for over thirty years in numerous roles, including service as residence hall director, director of orientation and leadership programs, director of student programs, director of graduate enrollment and student services, associate provost of graduate and professional programs, and executive director/assistant to the president for innovation and university partnerships. 

Alison R. Noble, Ph.D., is the provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Fresno Pacific University. Prior to her time at Fresno Pacific, she served in multiple higher education leadership roles including interim provost and associate provost, director of faculty development, and professor of chemistry. In 2016, she was recognized with the Robert & Marilyn Smith Award for Outstanding Teaching at Messiah University and has published research in numerous chemistry and surface science journals, including Langmuir, Applied Surface Science, and the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Prior to her time in higher education, Dr. Noble worked as a senior engineer for Intel Corporation. She holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a B.S. in chemistry, summa cum laude, from Westmont College, and completed the Institute for Leadership and Management in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In addition to her leadership at FPU, she is currently a mentor for the Lilly Network Faculty Fellows program and is a regular panelist, speaker, and workshop leader in the areas of vocation, institutional mission, church-related higher education, and faculty development.

Dr. Jeffrey Tabone serves as Director of Programs & Student Formation in the John Wesley Honors College and as Assistant Professor of Honors Humanities. Dr. Tabone has developed a strong track record as a student affairs professional, instructor, and scholar of faith and learning. Dr. Tabone's scholarly interests focus on the intersection of faith and learning, especially within the context of core and general education curricula at Christian colleges and universities. He also pursues research on the integration of spiritual formation practices into classroom instruction.

Kent Eilers (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is Professor of Theology at Huntington University where he teaches courses in theology, religion, biblical studies, ethics, and history. He is the author or editor of five books and has published multiple essays in academic journals. His most recent book, Reading Theology Wisely: A Practical Introduction (Eerdmans), was a finalist for the Christianity Today Book of the Year award. He is also the co-editor of the Baker Academic book series Soteriology and Doxology, and his forthcoming book in the series will be released later this year: Sanctification and the Life of Faith.

Dr. Kimberly Fenstermacher’s extensive background includes significant teaching, research, and leadership roles across various nursing education settings. She serves as dean of the School of Nursing at Palm Beach Atlantic University. She previously served on the Nursing faculty at Messiah University and York College in Pennsylvania. Fenstermacher holds a PhD in nursing from Pennsylvania State University, where she also earned her MSN as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. She is one of the authors of Called to Care: A Christian Vision for Nursing.