twenty-seventh speedway
Heather Zdancewicz to lead Finance and Administration
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ustin Seminary has called Heather Zdancewicz to be vice president for finance and administration starting February 1, 2017. She currently holds that position at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia, the largest Episcopal seminary in America, where she has served in the administration for twenty-four years. “Heather Zdancewicz is a proven and nationally respected administrator and leader, both within and beyond her familiar turf at Virginia Theological Seminary,” said Austin Seminary President Theodore J. Wardlaw. “With a passionate commitment to the church and to mainline theological education in the service of equipping the church, Heather brings to Austin Seminary deep experience in all of the facets of her field. We look forward to welcoming her to this ministry!” While at Virginia Theological Seminary, Zdancewicz managed a $17 million operating budget and $160 million endowment fund. She has overseen major capital projects such as a $9 million central plant/hydronic piping project, a $25 million chapel project (replacing a former, historic chapel which burned down a few years ago), and a $22 million student-housing project. She has also been a member of the senior management team and has implemented various portions of Virginia Theological Seminary’s strategic plan, leading efforts to create more sustainability initiatives around campus. “I am excited about coming to another one of the Seminaries that Change the World,” Zdancewicz said. “The strength of Austin Seminary is a real draw. I look forward to working with so many well-regarded staff and faculty and to helping the community with initiatives that will move it from strength to strength.” Zdancewicz earned a BS in mathematics from the University of Mary Washington and an MBA from George Mason University. Active at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Burke, Virginia, Zdancewicz is a member of the Kanuga Conference Board, an Episcopal retreat center, similar to Montreat, in the Western North Carolina mountains, and she serves as chair of their finance committee. Zdancewicz and her husband, Don, have two sons, one a recent college graduate and the other still in college. v
New trustees Stephen Giles, Sloan Leonard, Jesse González (Class of 2018), Walter Harris, Margaret Aymer, Matthew Ruffner, and Mark Ramsey; inset Keatan King.
New trustees take office November 7
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ustin Seminary welcomed seven new members to the Board of Trustees Class of 2019 this fall; Walter Harris Jr. was installed as the new board vice-chair and James Allison is the new board secretary. Margaret Aymer, associate professor of New Testament, is the new faculty appointment to the board. Stephen Giles of Dallas, Texas, is executive producer for UnRestricted Access and America Up Close. He has worked as an advertising, sales, and marketing executive with multiple Fortune 1000 companies, and he is a member of Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas. Walter Harris, a member of St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church, New Orleans, was provost and vice president for academic affairs of Loyola University until his retirement; he now teaches at Loyola. He served on the Austin Seminary Board from 2006-2015, and his daughter and sonin-law Ayana and Aaron Teeter are Seminary graduates. Keatan King is associate pastor at St. Philip Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas. The daughter of former trustee and alumnus Carter King (MDiv’67), she was a member of the Visions Taskforce of New Covenant Presbytery and formerly served as director of young adult ministries at First Presbyterian Church in Bryan, Texas. Sloan Leonard is a pathologist and co-founder of DPA Laboratories. He is co-founder and director of Pegasus Bank in Dallas. A member of Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, he served as director of the investment committee for the Texas Presbyterian Foundation from 2009-2014. Mark Ramsey is senior pastor at Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas. He is associate editor for the Journal of Preachers and has served as an adjunct instructor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and on the Macedonian Ministry faculty. Matthew Ruffner is senior pastor at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas. Previously he was associate pastor for mission at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. Ruffner served as a consultant for the Cousins Family Foundation in Atlanta, Georgia. v Winter 2017 | 3