September 2026
From the President

As we move into the latter part of 2026, I am encouraged by the ways our network continues to nurture leaders, strengthen institutions, and respond with care to the changing needs of students and communities. The stories in this issue of the United Board e-newsletter remind us that leadership is formed over time—through opportunities to learn, the guidance of mentors, attentive listening, and a deep commitment to serve.

We begin with the remarkable journey of Dr. Vasanthi Vijayakumar, founding Vice Chancellor of Captain Williamson Sangma State University in Meghalaya, India. From her early academic career at Madras Christian College to her current work of building a new university in an underserved region, her path has been intertwined with the United Board. Her story shows how an investment in one educator can bear fruit across decades, institutions, and communities. We are inspired by this “daughter of the United Board” who carries forward the values that have shaped her leadership.

That spirit of care also shines through in our feature on the 2026 Asian Academy for Campus Ministry. Participants from the Philippines, India, and Pakistan reflect on the pressures facing today’s students and affirm a lesson that is simple but profound: before we offer answers, we must first be present and listen. In diverse and multifaith campus communities, such attentive presence can help students find dignity and hope, as well as a sense of belonging.

At this year’s Institute for Advanced Study in Asian Cultures and Theologies (IASACT), listening and learning took another form as 20 scholars from eight Asian countries explored “Theologies of Aging: Interfaith Wisdom for Flourishing in Later Life.” Hosted for the first time at Payap University in Chiang Mai, IASACT 2026 considered aging not as loss or decline, but as a season of agency, wisdom, meaning, and grace.

This issue also takes you with us through a busy summer of travel and partnership. In Singapore, institutional leaders considered the next decade of Christian higher education in Asia and committed themselves to building climate-responsive and sustainable campuses. In Jabalpur, we witnessed the multiplier effect of faculty development as learning extended to schools and communities. In New Delhi, Indian academic leaders reflected on institutional purpose, innovation, and the ethical use of artificial intelligence. And in Kathmandu, we began forming relationships that will deepen the United Board’s work in Nepal. Across these journeys, I was reminded that meaningful partnerships begin with presence and grow through trust.

We also welcome the launch of SOAR, the first hybrid program of the CHRIST University Higher Education Leadership Institute. By supporting early-career faculty as they grow into leadership, this five-month journey reflects our commitment to develop resilient and confident academic leaders.

Finally, we pause to remember with gratitude Dr. James T. Laney, a man whose commitment to education, reconciliation, and peace guided the United Board toward deeper partnership with Christian colleges and universities in Asia. We give thanks for his wisdom, humanity, and enduring contribution to our mission.

Together, these stories show how leadership takes root and flourishes: through formation sustained across a lifetime, attentiveness to students, scholarship that honors the later stages of life, partnerships patiently built, and a legacy of service passed from one generation to the next. Thank you for walking with us in this shared work. I invite you to read on and continue partnering with us as we nurture educators and leaders who serve with courage, compassion, and hope.

With gratitude and hope,

Pareena Gupta Lawrence

President

United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia

A Daughter of the United Board at the Helm
of a New University

Throughout the United Board’s long service to Christian higher education in Asia, countless academic leaders have been shaped by its programs and carried its spirit into institutions across the continent. But few have stayed so close, for so long, and acknowledged so openly what the United Board, its programs, and its people have meant to her, as Dr. Vasanthi Vijayakumar. Read more

Making Space to Listen:

Three AACM Participants Put Compassion into Practice

Across Asia, campus ministers and educators are getting students whose academic lives are inseparable from anxiety, financial strain, family conflict, questions of identity and faith, and an uncertain world. At the 2026 Asian Academy for Campus Ministry (AACM), held May 4–9 at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand, participants explored how mental health, spiritual development, and ministry as a calling come together in the everyday work of accompanying students.Read more

When Theology Turns to Growing Old:
Inside IASACT 2026

Aging comes for everyone, yet theology has rarely paused to consider it. For all that the world's religious traditions say about birth, suffering, and death, the long middle passage of growing old—its losses and its wisdom, its indignities and its grace—has remained a curiously neglected subject. This year, the United Board set out to change that. Read more

A Busy Summer in Singapore, Jabalpur,
New Delhi, and Kathmandu

A summer of demanding journeys and tightly packed schedules took United Board delegates from Singapore to Jabalpur, New Delhi, and Kathmandu. The miles and effort were rewarded by renewed friendships, new connections and inspiring encounters with educators and institutions committed to transforming lives through higher education. Read more

Learning to SOAR:
CHRIST Leadership Hub Launches
First Hybrid Leadership Journey

Established by the United Board in 2023 at CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Kengeri Campus, Bangalore, India, the CHRIST University Higher Education Leadership Institute (CUHELI) is one of two United Board Leadership Hubs in Asia (the other is hosted at Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines). It has since built a steady calendar of programs for faculty at early, mid- and senior career stages. Read more

In Memoriam: Dr. James T. Laney (1927–2026)

 The United Board mourns the passing of Dr. James T. Laney—president emeritus of Emory University, former United States ambassador to the Republic of Korea, and a devoted leader and friend of the United Board—on August 13, 2026, at the age of 98.

Dr. Laney served as a United Board trustee from 1978 to 2005, including as chair and vice chair. Over nearly three decades, he brought a profound commitment to Asia, an educator’s faith in the transforming power of learning, and a Christian understanding of leadership as service. At a pivotal period in the Board’s history, he helped guide its transition toward deeper partnership with Asian Christian colleges and universities, expanding Asian participation in governance and strengthening institution-led initiatives.

His lifelong connection with Asia began in Korea, where he served as a Methodist missionary and taught at Yonsei University from 1959 to 1964. He later led Emory University as its 17th president and served as US ambassador to South Korea from 1993 to 1996, advocating throughout his life for dialogue, reconciliation, and peace.

Dr. Laney believed that higher education should equip students not only for achievement, but also for lives of service to others. The United Board gives thanks for his wisdom, humanity, and enduring contribution to its mission. We extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends, former students, colleagues, and all whose lives were touched by his remarkable ministry of education, leadership, and peace.