Michael Le Roy and Celeste Schenck serve as co-directors of the Presidential Renewal program.
Michael Le Roy is president emeritus of Calvin University in Michigan, having served as president from 2012 to 2022. He previously served as executive vice president, vice president for academic affairs, dean of the faculty, and professor of political science of Whitworth University and as faculty member at Wheaton College. He is principal of Michael Le Roy Associates, an advisor for MyNextSeason, and a member of the Macatawa Bank board of directors. Le Roy is passionate about investing in higher education leaders; he is currently working on a book that will provide leadership guidance to new college and university presidents. In this program, Le Roy is interested in supporting participants to become connected to the origin of the spirit of their work, to think about the connection between personal and physical life and professional sustainability, and to guide a renewed sense of purpose. Le Roy earned his BA in international studies and peace studies from Whitworth College; his PhD in political science, comparative politics, and international relations from Vanderbilt University; and attended the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. He won a Fulbright Award, which supported his research at Gothenburg University in Sweden.
Celeste Schenck is president emerita of the American University of Paris, where she previously served as provost, dean, and professor of comparative literature. An expert in global higher education, she founded The American International Consortium of Academic Libraries (AMICAL), a consortium of American universities across Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa; and served as president of the Association of American International Colleges and Universities (AAICU), a presidents’ organization spanning American-style universities across the world. Schenck is a Coaches Training Institute (CTI) and Organization Relationship Systems Coaching (ORSC) certified expert interested in supporting mid-to-late career academics. In this program, she is interested in bringing together concepts of storytelling with powerful experiential opportunities to guide participants in creating a roadmap to their next chapter. She is a former member of the CIC Board of Directors and currently serves on the board of the American University of Kurdistan. Schenck earned her BA from Princeton University and her PhD from Brown University. She founded two series in women’s poetry and feminist literary theory, and has published widely on women’s autobiography; modern poetry; critical theory; and on development, educational, and pedagogical issues.
Other program facilitators will include Andrea Nelson Le Roy and Dominique Delor.
Following a formal education and a career in counseling and social work, Andrea Nelson Le Roy was trained in spiritual direction with the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids and has been practicing as a spiritual director since 2014. While she was raised in the Protestant tradition, she welcomes the opportunity to work with individuals from all faith backgrounds or those who have little to no experience in organized religion.
Dominique Delor is a medical doctor and longtime director of public health within the French national health system. He has experience managing work-related health in collective situations from schools to major corporations. In retirement, he joins humanitarian missions to Madagascar and Zambia. He is particularly interested in stress management and high-performance aging and looks forward to working holistically with participants eager to improve their physical health and resilience.