Dr. Harry Fernhout – GSC Board Chair & Executive Director (2014-2017)

Dr. Harry Fernhout is one of many post-war immigrants to Canada from Holland. His vision for education was nurtured by such books as Herman Dooyeweerd’s In the Twilight of Western Thought and L.
Kalsbeek’s Contours of a Christian Philosophy, reinforced by studies in Christian universities in the US and Canada, and capped by his PhD in education from the University of Toronto.

He came to GSC as ED in 2014 with extensive experience in higher education and its administration. President Emeritus of The King’s University in Edmonton (2005-2013) and previous to that President of
the Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto (1989-2005). He became the Executive Director of IAPCHE at the same time (International Association for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education) and forged some important connections between Global Scholars and IAPCHE (now INCHE).

Harry led the name change from CSI to GSC in 2015, and helped set up GSC scholars and scholarships in The Gambia, taking GSC to a new level of effective global outreach. He brought greater visibility to the organization and even traveled to some of the places we serve to visit our scholars. Harry loved us so much he came back after a few years hiatus to join our board of trustees. “We have benefited from the organizational skills and vision that Harry brought to GSC,” stated former board chair, Justin Cooper. Dr. Fernhout was honoured for his service to GSC at a special celebration evening in October 2017. Dr. Fernhout now serves as board chair of Global Scholars Canada.