Shirley A. Mullen (PhD, University of Minnesota; PhD, University of Wales) served as president of Houghton University for fifteen years. She spent four decades in the work of faith-based liberal arts education in various roles, including professorof history, provost, director of residence life, and president. As president emerita, she continues to write, speak and consult on themes related to her recent publication Claiming the Courageous Middle. Mullen’s earned doctorates in history and philosophy reflect her life-long interest in the Enlightenment and its complex impact on the modern world, on liberal learning, and on the intertwining of Christian calling and the legacy of humanism in the Western tradition. In addition to herwork in the classroom and as an administrator, she has served as president of the Conference of Faith and History, chair of the board of the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities, and chair of Jericho Road Community Health Center in Buffalo, New York. She currently serves as chair of the board of Fuller Seminary, and is a member of the boards of National Association of Evangelicals and First Amendment Partnerships.