Tabor College announced the first three fully funded endowed positions in fall 2023. Endowed professors are afforded additional research and study opportunities to expand their professional pursuits and educational opportunities for Tabor students.
“This is a significant chapter in Tabor’s storied history. These endowed positions celebrate the lifelong impact of great faculty on Tabor students. We are honored to acknowledge the namesake of these positions and recognize the outstanding work of faculty members chosen as recipients. These generous gifts are instrumental in supporting our faculty and freeing up money to fund student scholarships and other operations of the college.”
President David Janzen, Ph.D.
Allen Hiebert Chair of Sciences
Allen Hiebert (g’63), a native of Hillsboro, Kan., earned his B.A. in chemistry from Tabor College. A week after graduating, he married a fellow Tabor graduate, Lois (Frantz g’86) Hiebert. He completed his master’s and doctorate at the University of Illinois at Urbana. After earning his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry in 1967, he spent a year in post-doctoral research at Michigan State University. He began teaching at Knox College, Galesburg, Ill., where he received the “Excellence in Teaching” award. After 16 years at Knox and achieving the rank of associate professor in chemistry, he returned to his alma mater, Tabor College, where he wanted to teach “academics within a framework of people who value the Christian faith and are willing to explore what that means and contribute to the long history of excellence in the sciences at Tabor.” Hiebert was part of the science faculty at Tabor for 23 years, retiring in 2007. Hiebert expressed his faith in Christ through church leadership, teaching service, and as a strong supporter of the Mennonite Central Committee, both on the MCC bi-national level and the local Hillsboro area meat-canning work. The donor(s) for the endowed chair chose to remain anonymous. – Center of Mennonite Brethren Studies
James Titah, Ph.D.
Al & Dotty Warkentine Professor of Mathematical Sciences
Al (fs’60), a retired dentist, and Dotty (Penner fs’60) Warkentine, a music educator, noted the work done by their professors and the standard of excellence that remains 60-plus years after walking on campus. The list is significant from Professor Solomon L. Loewen, Will Johnson, Ph.D., Emil Thiessen, Ph.D., Lando Hiebert, Th.D., and Professor Malinda Nikkel. “The impact that a gift like this has on the budget is one thing, but it has a lifelong impact,” Al said in spring 2023. “The interest earned on Endowment funds goes on for 5, 10, 15, and 100-plus years and is truly a gift that keeps giving.”
Daniel Creamer, Ph.D.
Marvin Sellberg Professor of Business Administration & Entrepreneurship
Marvin Sellberg was a fixture of the Tabor College business department, serving as a longtime department chair and working there for 22 years (1968-1990). A graduate of Central College in 1946, he earned his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago in 1949. He served as assistant professor of business and economics at Tabor from 1968-78, and after a break of four years at McPherson College, Sellberg returned to Tabor in 1982, serving eight years till 1990. As a Tabor professor, he was active in the Associated Colleges of Central Kansas and the Kansas Wheat Commission. He attended the first World Food Conference in Rome in 1974 and presented on such topics as the “Perspective of a Farmer on Hunger” at later conferences. He was known as a man with a big heart, and many of his students affectionately referred to themselves as “his disciples.” Sellberg received Tabor faculty emeritus status in May 2008. The donors of this endowed professorship are Bryan and Lavonne Kroeker. – Center of Mennonite Brethren Studies