Lambert elected to Presbyterian association’s executive post

Hanover College President Lake Lambert has been elected executive chair of the 13-member Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities (APCU) Board of Directors.

An independent, not-for-profit alliance, the APCU assists member institutions with the connection between higher education and faith. The organization operates exclusively for religious, charitable and educational purposes, and maintains a renewable bond with the Presbyterian Mission Agency of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Lambert, who recently served as the APCU’s vice chair, became Hanover’s 16th president in July 2015 after six years as dean of the Mercer University College of Liberal Arts. Since arriving on campus, he has enhanced Hanover’s curriculum with the addition of engineering, nursing and hybrid doctoral offerings. He has also stimulated alumni engagement and leadership, and upgraded campus living, classroom, laboratory and dining facilities.

An active scholar, Lambert also serves Hanover as professor of theological studies. He has a personal interest in the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr., while his research focuses on workplace spirituality, professional ethics and church-related higher education. He is the author of “Spirituality, Inc.: Religion in the American Workplace” and has authored numerous articles and essays in academic journals.

The APCU includes 54 colleges and universities and serves more than 140,000 students. Each affiliated institution represents a distinct interpretation of its historical relationship to the Presbyterian Church (USA). Like Hanover, pastors, missionaries, representatives of the Church or local congregations founded many of the APCU’s member colleges, which span the U.S., Puerto Rico and Korea.

In 1823, John Finley Crowe moved his family from Kentucky to become pastor of the Hanover Presbyterian Church. In 1827, Crowe started the Hanover Academy to train ministers to serve in the developing states of the West. From its beginning with just six students – all sons of Presbyterian elders – the school would become Hanover College and the oldest private, four-year college in Indiana.