The Lilly Foundation has named two Rochester Christian University professors as Lilly Faculty Fellows with the goal of helping them engage the intersections of Christian thought and practice with academic vocation. 

Selected for the two-year Lilly Fellows Program are Dr. Naomi Walters, dean of the School of Theology and Ministry, and Katherine Stokes, chair of the Department of Accounting and Financial Studies. The pair will attend four conferences in Indianapolis and Chicago and will receive start-up funds of $8,000 to launch a faculty development campus project at RCU.

Walters’ area of expertise is practical theology, particularly preaching, spiritual formation, worship, and liturgy. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biblical studies from RCU, her master’s of divinity from Abilene Christian University, and a doctorate in ministry from Lipscomb University. She also previously served as a preaching minister with the Stamford Church of Christ in Stamford, Connecticut.

In her role as chair, Stokes has dedicated the past decade to developing students’ technical expertise, ethical foundation, and commitment to vocational service. Outside of the classroom, she leads RCU’s annual volunteer partnership with the Accounting Aid Society and is an active member of the Educators’ Resource Group for the Michigan Association of CPAs. Prior to joining academia, Stokes worked as a CPA in public accounting, first as an auditor and later in corporate accounting. While she has taught every accounting course offered at RCU, Intermediate Accounting remains her favorite.

Founded in 1991, the Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities (formerly the Lilly Fellows Program) seeks to strengthen the quality and shape the character of church-related institutions of higher learning through a variety of fellowships and regranting efforts.