Meet The Prof, with Shane & Spence

Have you ever shared some of your spiritual story, given someone a Christian book, or invited a friend to church, and wondered whether it made any difference? In this episode, I talk with Dr. Len Lecci, a psychology professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and Michelle Messer, a UNCW graduate student whose journey to faith included a graduation gift from Dr. Lecci.  One of the mos...

My friend and original Meet The Prof cohost, Spence Hackney, joins me again to share what God’s been doing in his life. After selling the business he led for about 25 years, Spence found himself asking some honest questions about his identity and whether God still had work for him to do. We talk about waiting on the Lord and following the Holy Spirit. Spence also shares about the AWE Conference in...

From New Atheism to a New Openness to God For years, Professor Doug Allen and other Christian faculty members at Simon Fraser University struggled to generate meaningful spiritual interest on their campus. At the height of new atheism, they bought potato chips and invited students to ask questions about the Bible. They discovered that the students were more interested in challenging whether God ex...

I was inspired by my interview with Lane Weaver, a faculty member in Utah State University’s music department and director of its marching band. He discusses how professors can build spiritually meaningful relationships with students, how Cru and apologetics strengthened his faith during college, how he recently discipled a new Iranian believer, and how he opens his office for prayer with students...

Professor Jay Northington (Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University) and graduate student Mathew Nelson share a simple 2-step strategy any campus can use to start a Bible study connecting professors and students around God's Word: Step 1: Christian professors make it known that they follow Jesus Step 2: Christian students find them and initiate ministry ideas Jay and Mathew discuss why stud...

Dr. Kim Shorter is a Full Professor of Biology at University of South Carolina Upstate. Her research focuses on epigenetics and neuroscience, and she recently received a National Institutes of Health grant of $517,000 supporting her work. She shares about her battle with depression and anxiety during a difficult postdoctoral appointment and answers college student Ashley Davis’ question, ‘How do y...

Dr. Robert Kaita is Senior Physicist Emeritus at the Plasma Physics Laboratory at Princeton University, where he conducted nuclear fusion energy research for nearly four decades. In this episode, he discusses mentoring graduate students, integrating Christian faith naturally within academia, helping introverted professors engage spiritually with students, and approaching retirement as a new callin...

Dr. Gbola Adesogan is a professor of Ruminant Nutrition at the University of Florida and serves as Associate Vice President and Director of the Global Food Systems Institute. In this interview, he shares his powerful testimony of transformation, his journey of surrender to Christ, and how a deep dependence on the Holy Spirit has shaped his life, work, and relationships with students. He also descr...

In this interview, Dr. Kate Fogarty-Read shares her journey to faith in Christ during graduate school through the influence of one of her undergrad students, how Jesus sustained her through academic challenges, her involvement in mentoring graduate students, and her experience leading a faculty mission trip to Italy. She also discusses how faith and science can work together and offers practical a...

In this episode, we interview Anita Stephen, Clinical Assistant Professor of Nursing at the University of Florida. Anita challenges professors not to compartmentalize their faith but to live it out boldly and naturally in everyday academic life. She shares how God reshaped her heart from striving and self-focus to listening and kindness, and how that transformation now shapes her relationships wit...

Lanny Griffin is a longtime professor of mechanical engineering at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly). Over the course of his career he has served as a department chair, Army Reserve officer, and faculty member at the United States Military Academy at West Point. If you’d like to learn more about Professor Griffin, you can find his profile at: https://meettheprof.com/view/professor...

Dr. Charles Kemp, Associate Professor of Teacher Education at Shawnee State University, talks about being a Christian professor and integrating his faith on campus, on Meet The Prof, episodes 72 and 73. He also discusses: Is it safe to be a Christian professor today? How to talk about faith as a professor. Can professors talk about Christianity in class? Being bold about faith as a professor. Chri...

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Charles Kemp, Associate Professor of Teacher Education and Program Coordinator and Intervention Specialist at Shawnee State University in Ohio. Charles shares his journey from a fear-based view of God to a deep experience of God’s love, his years serving missionary kids in West Africa and Papua New Guinea, and the surprising path that led him into higher education...

Dr. Kara Powell, Chief of Leadership Formation at Fuller Theological Seminary and Executive Director of the Fuller Youth Institute, unpacks humble leadership in academic settings, how students can share faith without judgment, and key ideas from her new book Future Focused Church. She shares practical moves churches and professors can make to prioritize young people, build supportive communities,...

In part 1 of this inspiring interview, Dr. Kara Powell, Chief of Leadership Formation at Fuller Theological Seminary and Executive Director of the Fuller Youth Institute, shares stories from her own faith journey, her passion for reaching young people, and practical advice for professors navigating doubt, boldness, humility, and transformation in academia and in the Church.  Main Takeaways: Christ...

Dr. Karen Liller, Distinguished University Health Professor in the College of Public Health at the University of South Florida, shares how consistent, respectful openness about her Christian faith—something as simple as wearing a cross daily—has sparked student conversations, encouraged fellow faculty, and shaped her public-health advocacy and research on injury and suicide prevention. She also sp...

Spence and I were impressed by Karen's compassion for her students. In part 1 of this interview, Dr. Karen Liller, Distinguished University Health Professor at the University of South Florida and Director of the Activist Lab, shares her journey of faith, grief, and resilience. From childhood imagination to moments of public embarrassment, to losing her sister to cancer, Karen reveals how God...

This episode is part 2 of our roundtable discussion with Christian professors from around the country. We explore themes of Sabbath rest and identity in Christ, and professors share personal stories and practical ways to keep Jesus at the center of academic life and our identity. Main Takeaways Practicing Sabbath is vital to resisting the pressure to overwork and to reorient identity around Jesus....

In this unique roundtable format of Meet The Prof , we gather over a dozen Christian professors from campuses across the country to discuss a timely and personal question: how do we avoid getting our identity from our work instead of Christ? Inspired by a powerful clip from Sara Myers, the episode explores real struggles, vulnerable stories, and practical steps professors are taking to keep Jesus...

Dr. Denis LaClare, Professor of Education at Porterville College in California, shares his inspiring journey of launching both faculty and student ministries. With experience in both campus ministry and higher education, Denis opens up about his outreach to international students, creative tabling strategies, and bold witness alongside fellow professors. He provides a practical, Spirit-led model f...

Dr. Denis LaClare is a Professor of Education at Porterville College in California with a rare perspective: he serves both as a campus minister and as a full-time professor. In this episode, Denis shares his powerful testimony of how a sports-focused Canadian student came to Christ through brokenness, family, and a coach's profanity. He also opens up about the challenges of early evangelism,...

In Part 2 of our interview, Dr. Sara Myers, Associate Chancellor of Research and Creative Activity and Professor of Biomechanics at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), shares how she has grown bolder in her faith as a professor. In response to a student’s question about faith and legal boundaries, she gives practical advice for Christian professors. Sara also tells the story of starting a t...

In this episode of Meet the Prof, we sit down with Dr. Sara Myers, Professor of Biomechanics and Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activity at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Sara shares openly about a challenging season in her marriage during grad school, and how God used that time to deepen her faith, reshape her priorities, and teach her to surrender both her career and p...

In this second episode, Dr. Jonathan Boreyko, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech, shares how he integrates his Christian faith into his teaching, collaborates with ministries through the Bradley Study Center, and encourages bold yet peaceful Christian witness on campus. He discusses student doubts, research on fog harvesting and synthetic trees, and what it means to be...

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Jonathan Boreyko, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech. Jonathan shares his journey from a works-based "moralistic therapeutic deism" to a vibrant faith in Christ sparked by a Bible study in Romans. He discusses teaching thermodynamics with a theological twist, guiding students through conversations about truth, and using C.S. L...