Dr. David Setran ’92, M.A. ’94 does not merely teach about Christian formation—it is something he witnesses and participates in every day. As a graduate student at Wheaton in the ’90s, Dr. Setran was torn between two career paths: teaching in higher education or going into ministry. And then he realized that, at a Christian liberal arts school like Wheaton that cultivates “whole-person formation,” he didn’t have to choose. “I had a number of professors here who invested deeply in my life, and my thought was always that I’d like to be able to do something like that,” says Dr. Setran.

One of Dr. Setran’s favorite Wheaton-related activities is the year-end retreat that takes place every spring for graduate students in the Department of Christian Formation and Ministry. He describes it as an emotional time of reflection and commissioning prayer by the faculty over the students. He recently visited Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, where he met up with eight former students who all work in student development there.

“They were all sharing about how meaningful the retreat was in terms of their own sense of calling; to be in the midst of that with them was really special,” Dr. Setran says.

HOMETOWN: LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK

TITLE: PRICE-LEBAR CHAIR OF CHRISTIAN FORMATION AND MINISTRY

DEPARTMENT: CHRISTIAN FORMATION AND MINISTRY

YEARS AT WHEATON: 20 

EDUCATION: PH.D., HISTORY OF EDUCATION, INDIANA UNIVERSITY; M.A., EDUCATIONAL MINISTRIES, WHEATON COLLEGE; B.S., BIOLOGY, WHEATON COLLEGE

FUN FACT: AS AN UNDERGRADUATE AT WHEATON, DR. SETRAN TOOK PART IN A LIVEGOLDFISH-EATING CONTEST