Newsletter

Spring 2000

Broadening Leadership

The Au Sable Institute Board of Trustees, at its spring meeting, named Edward Brown as chief operating officer and elected J. Terence (Terry) Morrison to the board. At its November meeting, the board elected as new members Kara Unger and Virginia (Jinny) DeJong.

Edward Brown comes to Au Sable from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, where he has administered overseas personnel in 25 countries for the last 3 1/2 years. "He will be responsible for institute operations and will be working with me in enabling achievement of institute plans and goals," Dr. Cal De Witt, Au Sable Director, said.

Mr. Brown, who was a management consultant for Au Sable before joining the administrative team, said his initial involvement will be assuming control of the institute's budgetary process. He said Au Sable's new Pacific Rim campus and overseas programs, which have more than doubled the institute's student capacity in recent years, have made it increasingly difficult to manage the institute from its original Michigan campus. He plans to "build a centralized administrative structure," with an office to be opened in Madison, WI, by September.

"I am very interested in helping to expand and develop our international programs," Mr. Brown added. Before joining InterVarsity, he was pastor of a church in Pakistan, where he had grown up as the son of missionaries.

"This is a very significant appointment for the institute," Dr. De Witt said. "It adds to our institute a person who has won my fullest respect and admiration, as I am sure he will yours. Thank you for your prayers and other contributions during this very important time of program development and institute growth. Please continue to pray that our institute will flourish in the coming year and the years ahead."

Terry Morrison is director of faculty ministries for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Madison, WI, and director of InterVarsity's participation in the Evangelical Environmental Network. In that capacity, he has devised grant proposals; supervised disbursement of monies to projects such as development of a theological statement about creation care; conducted training programs for staff and students; supported summer teams in urban and overseas environmental work; and developed a permanent Creation Care Center at InterVarsity's Midwest training facility. He has been involved with InterVarsity and similar Christian campus groups since 1974. Before that, he taught chemistry at Butler University.

Kara Unger lives in Clearville, PA, where she is Sideling Hill Creek Project Leader and director, Sustainable Countrysides for the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. She described Sideling Hill Creek as "one of the most pristine remaining streams of the Chesapeake Bay watershed," with "some of the highest biodiversity of the area." When students from Au Sable-East Coast visited the site last summer, "It was one of the highlights of my year," she said. Kara works in the community to establish sustainable development and environmental ethics programs and coordinates the conservancy's land and science activities in the watershed. Formerly, she was marketing and research manager at the National Wildlife Federation and an environmental management consultant. She holds master's degrees in environmental policy and business administration. Her personal interests include tending her animals, gardening, hiking, camping and enjoying fellowship with other Christians.

Virginia (Jinny) DeJong is chief operating officer for International Aid, a Christian relief and development agency based in Spring Lake, MI. She previously was vice-president for student life and dean of women at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. Her introduction to Au Sable came while her family was living in Madison, WI, where a stroll with Au Sable Director Cal DeWitt opened her eyes to "the wonder of wetlands and the preciousness of prairies." Jinny said, "I want to be a part of what I perceive Au Sable's mission to be, that is to practically apply the doctrine of creation in preserving and cultivating the earth."

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