GSC Advisory Council

DR. JUSTIN COOPER is President Emeritus of Redeemer University in Ancaster, Ontario, (1980-2010). He was Executive Director of Christian Higher Education Canada (CHEC), an organization of 34 Christ-centred universities, colleges and seminaries. (2010-2020)

He currently serves on the boards of Bible League Canada & Langham Partners Canada. Previously, on the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, (an organization of over 100 Christian liberal arts institutions based in Washington, DC), ABHE (Association of Biblical Higher Education), Trinity Christian College, Chicago and Global Scholars Canada, as board chair.

Justin has a PhD in political science from the University of Toronto and in 2010 was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by McMaster University.

DR. DAVID LYON – Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and raised in the Belgian Congo (now DRC) and Bristol, England, David obtained his BA and PhD at the University of Bradford in Yorkshire and taught Community Studies. His major research interest at the time was the sociology of religion. He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier University, Regent College in Vancouver, Calvin University at the Centre for Christian Scholarship and Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario (Professor Emeritus) until 2023. He has authored 33 books, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and is the recipient of several international prizes and awards.

DR. VICTOR EZIGBO – Victor Ezigbo is Professor of World Christianity and Theology at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto. He specializes in the areas of African Christianity, African Christologies, and contextual theologies.

Dr. Ezigbo says: It is a privilege and an honor to serve on the Advisory Council of Global Scholars Canada, where I can contribute to the vision of shaping Christian scholarship in universities across the globe.

DR. HARRY FERNHOUT – Harry holds a Master of Philosophy degree from the Institute for Christian Studies (ICS), Toronto (1975) and a doctorate in Philosophy of Education from the University of Toronto (1986). Harry served as president of ICS from 1990 to 2005 and of The King’s University in Edmonton 2013. From 2014 to 2018 Harry served as the Executive Director of Global Scholars Canada and later joined the Board (Chair).

Anyone who has enjoyed significant engagement in a university, knows that it is a special kind of place. Contention for ideas is the stock in trade of universities. Besides teaching new generations of students, this is how universities serve society as a whole – sparking the never-ending search for knowledge by fostering a space for creativity and imagination, a place to challenge established ideas and point to fresh paths of understanding. Universities are key culture-shaping institutions, and it is vital that the voice of Christian scholars be heard in this environment. Global Scholars Canada’s vison of shaping a “guild of Christian academics who develop faith-filled educational opportunities for the cultural leaders of tomorrow” speaks to the heart of Christian witness to the kingdom of God in the higher education environment.

DR. MARY LEIGH MORBEY – is Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar of Culture and Technology at York University, Toronto. Mary Leigh holds degrees in the visual arts and digital technologies from Wheaton College (BA), Hollins University (MALS), Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam (Doctorandus, DRS), and The Ohio State University and its Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (PhD). Her education has enabled her to query Christianity and the digital arts across a diverse array of venues including invitational research professorial residential positions at the Louvre Museum, Paris, France; the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia; the Uganda National Museum, Kampala, Uganda, East Africa; and Duke University, USA. Crossing these borders and boundaries has enabled her to experience and participate in Christian Higher education globally. 

One of my life passions is to expand Christian higher education wherever possible! Often, one thinks of Christian higher education and scholarship in connection with smaller contexts of church denomination and geographic locale. However, Global Scholars Canada imagines global contexts for Christian higher education, available to students in their location in our world. This genius opens up possibilities, interconnections, and immense opportunities everywhere for the growth and development of Christian higher education, bringing forth the mission of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God.

DR. RUPEN DAS – Rupen is the President of the Canadian Bible Society and a Research Professor at Tyndale University. He has served on the faculty of the International Baptist Theological Study Center affiliated with the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, as the Program Director for the Master’s in Middle East and North African Studies at the Institute for Middle Eastern Studies at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Beirut, and as Program Coordinator and Professor at Humber College’s post-grad program in International Project Management in Toronto. He has been a Visiting Scholar at Harvard and a 21st-century Fellow in the UK and an Ashoka Fellow.

More details are available at https://dascompassion.wordpress.com/rupen-das/

Dr. GORDON T. SMITH is the Executive Director for Christian Higher Education Canada.  He previously served in academic administration with Regent College, reSource Leadership International and then Ambrose University and Seminary.  Gordon continues as a Teaching Fellow with Regent College, where he teaches courses in Spiritual Theology.     He has a number of publications, including: Wisdom from Babylon: Leadership for the Church in a Secular Age (IVPress,2017), Welcome Holy Spirit: a Theological and Experiential Introduction (IVPress 2021) and In the Meantime: Living in Light of the Ascension (Cascade, 2025).