Pittsburgh Theological Seminary has elected five new members to its Board of Directors— Angel De La Cruz, K. James Evans, Lisa Franklin-Robinson, Donald McKim, and Susan Vande Kappelle. They will begin their service to the Seminary in June 2014. Additionally, Sandra Lamb replaces John Isherwood as chair of the Board.
The Rev. Dr. Angel De La Cruz ’98/’07 earned his M.Div. and D.Min. from Pittsburgh Seminary. In 2003, De La Cruz was the organizing pastor of an independent multi-ethnic church which became a new church development, Word Centered Presbyterian Church, in the Shenango Presbytery. It was the first new church charter development in Shenango Presbytery in 102 years. De La Cruz has also served as a chaplain for the State Correctional Facility in Pittsburgh and at Heartland Home Health in Hermitage, Pa. Additionally, he serves on the Seminary’s Metro-Urban Institute Advisory Council.
Dr. James Evans is the vice president and dean of student affairs at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. He earned his degrees from Grove City College (B.S.), South Dakota State University (M.Ed.), and University of Pittsburgh (Ph.D.) For over 25 years, Evans has been involved with the Institute for Shipboard Education at the University of Virginia (formerly at the University of Pittsburgh), which sponsors “Semester at Sea.” He is active in his community, recently serving on the boards of the United Way of Bradford Area and Bradford City Council among others.
Lisa Franklin-Robinson serves the Board as the Senior Class Representative. She will earn her M.Div. in June from PTS. While at Seminary, Franklin-Robinson served as president (former vice president) of the Student Association. She was also on the Metro-Urban Institute Advisory Council, a two-year core member of the Chapel Team, a member of NIA, as well as a member of the Community Life Committee. She is a graduate of Geneva College and prior to coming to seminary, Franklin-Robinson worked for the Court of Common Pleas.
John “Jack” S. Isherwood has served as the Seminary’s Board chair since 2006. Over the past 40 years, Isherwood’s management roles have included managing principal of Birchmere Investments Inc., president and CEO of Metalized Paper Corp., president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Brewing Co., president of Pittsburgh Food and Beverage, and COO of the G. Heileman Brewing Company. He is a graduate of Grove City College. Isherwood has audited nearly 40 courses at the Seminary with more than 20 faculty members. In addition to serving on a number of community boards, Isherwood is involved in Meridian United Presbyterian Church.
Sandra Lamb, new chair of the Board, is president and CEO of Lamb Advisors in New York. She has nearly 40 years of Wall Street, corporate, and nonprofit experience addressing financially complex and critically strategic issues. Prior to establishing Lamb Advisors, she worked at the investment bank, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC and the MONY Group. Lamb earned her bachelor’s from Duke University and MBA in finance from New York University Graduate School of Business. As a businesswoman and as a nonprofit executive, Lamb understands the increasingly complex environment in which the nonprofit community operates and how to address this environment with strategic solutions.
The Rev. Dr. Donald K. McKim ’74 is academic and reference editor for Westminster John Knox Press. He has served as Memphis Theological Seminary and the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. McKim is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He’s a graduate of Westminster College (B.A.), Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and University of Pittsburgh (Ph.D.). McKim has authored more than 25 books including Theological Turning Points: Major Issues in Christian Thought; Dictionary of Major Biblical Interpreters; The Westminster Handbook to Reformed Theology; and the Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith.
The Rev. Dr. Susan E. Vande Kappelle ’95 serves with Gestalt Pastoral Care. Previously she served as interim pastor at the Laboratory Presbyterian Church in Washington, Pa., pastor at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Washington, interim director of the Washington Presbytery Academy, stated supply pastor at Mount Chestnut Presbyterian Church, campus chaplain at Trenton State College, and chaplain at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Vande Kappelle was the chair of Synod Council and moderator of the Synod of the Trinity. She received her degrees from St. Lawrence University (B.A.), Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div.) and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (D.Min.).