Shirley Mullen served 15 years as President of Houghton University, Houghton, N.Y., retiring in May 2021. She has spent four decades in the work of faith based liberal arts education. Prior to becoming Houghton’s president, she served at various times as a classroom professor, chief academic officer and residence life director. She is an avid life-long learner with earned doctorates in both history and philosophy, focusing in her studies on the Enlightenment period and its complex impact on the Modern World, on liberal learning, and on our understanding of the human condition.  

As President Emerita, she continues to speak, write, and consult, as well as to encourage and develop the next generation of leaders through mentoring and serving on the boards of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, Board Chair of Fuller Seminary, the National Association of Evangelicals, Fuller Seminary, and the First Amendment Partnership.  Her book, Claiming the Courageous Middle: Daring to Live and Work Together for a More Hopeful Future, was recently published in April 2024.