Board & Advisors

Clifton Chang '96

Chairman of the Board; Human Resource Director

Clifton Chang is the HR Director at AdelFi Credit Union. His career in human resources has included both corporate and church ministry. He has worked for Johnson & Johnson, Allergan, and Mariners Church. He graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Industrial & Labor Relations and has his MBA from the University of Southern California. A journey on a train ride one day inspired him to follow Jesus. He has lived and worked in New York, New Jersey, Washington D.C., Shanghai, and now resides in Southern California with his wife and their two children.

Frederick Barber '87

CEO of Response:AI

Dr. Frederick Barber ’87 is the CEO of Response:AI, a market research technology firm. Dr. Barber has built several marketing strategy and analytics businesses, and previously served as Chief Analytic Officer of Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, now part of Accenture Interactive. Fred earned a BA magna cum laude in Sociology from Cornell where he served on the Student Assembly, and was inducted into the Quill & Dagger Senior Honorary Society. He holds a Masters in Demography (Georgetown), and a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership (Regent University), where his work focused on the role of spiritual disciplines in entrepreneurship. Fred and his wife Alice have three daughters and attend Trietsch Memorial UMC in Flower Mound, TX. Dr. Barber has also advised the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell, and for ten years he oversaw a mission support organization, His People Africa Missions, in South Africa and Namibia.

Jonathan Butcher

Professor in Cornell's Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering

Jonathan Butcher is a professor in the Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University, where he has taught since 2007. He received his BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Virginia in 2000, and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2004. Jonathan participated in the starting of the very first Christian Study Center at the University of Virginia as a student. Jonathan’s research focuses on understanding how tissue assembly and maturation during embryonic development are controlled by mechanical signaling, and in turn how these developmental signaling pathways are reactivated in postnatal diseases. He applies this information to engineer new regenerative and therapeutic strategies for cardiovascular diseases. Jonathan is also the Founding Director of Undergraduate Studies for the undergraduate major of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell, which began in 2015. He has a passion for building student community and exploring the intersections of science, engineering, and the human condition. He and his wife Christine live in Ithaca NY with their five children.

David Horn

Education: B.A. (Bethel College); M.A. in English literature (Baylor University); M.Div. (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary); Th.D. (Boston University School of Theology).

David Horn has ministered in a variety of settings: camping, campus ministry, and as a pastor in the local church. For nine years he worked in two Christian colleges in student development, as an instructor in the English and General Studies departments, and as Dean of the Chapel.

For eight years he served as pastor of an historic church that underwent an exciting period of spiritual and institutional renewal, First Congregational Church of Hamilton, MA. He has recently completed an additional three years as Interim Senior Pastor of the same parish.

For twenty years, David served on the faculty of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary as the Director of the Ockenga Institute where he oversaw a wide range of educational programs and centers involving church renewal, global evangelism, marketplace ministry and cultural engagement, youth ministry, preaching, online education, and alumni services.

He is ordained in the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (CCCC), and is active in the leadership of the First Congregational Church of Hamilton, Massachusetts. David is married to Cecilia and has two grown children (Will and Molly) and three grandchildren.

Esther T.J. Lee '16

Lawyer

Esther T.J. Lee ’16 graduated from Cornell University as a Merrill Presidential Scholar with a degree in Industrial and Labor Relations. While a student at Cornell, she was the founding editor-in-chief of the Cornell Claritas, a student-run journal of Christian thought, and a small group leader for many semesters of Bible studies. After graduating from Cornell, she went out to complete her J.D. degree at Columbia Law School and then a clerkship on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Esther currently lives in NYC with her husband Alex, where she is working at a law firm and becoming a self-taught home baker in her small NYC kitchen.

Andrea Lodge

Teacher, Writer/Editor, Youth Worker

Andrea Lodge has worn many hats: teacher, writer/editor, youth worker, homeschooling parent, master gardener, old-house renovator. She packed up her young family three different times to undertake sabbaticals with her husband, an ecologist – from Nairobi to California. Lodge (B.A., Covenant College; M.A., Wheaton College) has published many articles and is the author of Peter Veldman: Dutch Immigrant, American Entrepreneur. Through it all, she has been motivated and moved by friendships, story, community, and a deeply rooted love of the outdoors. Lodge and her husband recently moved to Ithaca after living for 30 years in South Bend, IN. She is the mother of three adult children.

Adrienne Hein Nystrom

Tour Operator

Adrienne is a hospitality enthusiast hailing from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, BS ’20. She has experienced the work of Chesterton House firsthand as a student, then resident, and as a fellow for hospitality and civic engagement on staff for two years after graduation. With experience in the international luxury lodging and restaurant industry, Adrienne now works as the Operations Coordinator and Assistant Tour Director for First Century Voyages, a boutique travel company owned by Chesterton House founder and former director Karl Johnson. Adrienne recently moved just outside of Spokane, Washington, with her husband John, who she met at Chesterton House alongside many dear friends. She is continually drawn to the work that Chesterton House does to extend both table and intellectual hospitality in an increasingly tense campus climate, and is delighted to serve on the board.

Lindel Smith '91

Auto Industry Executive/Consultant

Lindel Smith ’91 is a 30+ year automotive industry veteran having worked for 7 different brands on 5 continents. He led the global product marketing for the Ford Ranger pickup and Everest SUV, the US national advertising & facility design for Land Rover, and the corporate strategy team at Kia America. He presently works as an industry consultant.

Lindel earned a BS with distinction in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell, where he served as President of his fraternity, Sigma Chi Delta, and was one of a very select few engineers globally to be hired as a permanent employee at Nissan Technical Center in Japan. Lindel also earned an MBA at UCLA Anderson in International Business & Marketing, and studied abroad at Keio University. He is fluent in Japanese.

Lindel lives with his wife Miya, a Japanese kintsugi artist and metalsmith, in Southern California, where they are members of Saddleback Church. Miya and Lindel have served as small group leaders, art ministry volunteers, and leaders of Japan outreach missions, helping to raise relief funds after the Great Tohoku earthquake in 2011, and mobilizing and training dozens of mission teams to work with local churches in Japan in community outreach and church planting as part of the Saddleback PEACE plan.

Miya and Lindel have two sons. Their eldest, Kainalu, is presently pursuing a PhD in Chemistry at UCLA, and their youngest, Koa, is a high school senior, active in 3 varsity sports and the film/drama programs. In his free time, Lindel enjoys a variety of sports and fitness activities, and the adventure of traveling to new places and the great outdoors.

Gary E. Thompson ’81

Lawyer

Gary is Senior Counsel to an international law firm, focusing on pro bono matters and community service.  For nearly 40 years, Gary was a nationally recognized M&A lawyer, serving for many years as co-head of the firm’s M&A practice.  Gary represented public and private companies in connection with domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, strategic partnerships, carve-out transactions, minority investments, and governance matters.

Gary earned a BA in History from Cornell and a JD from Boston University.  At Cornell, he was active in several musical groups and was inducted into the Quill & Dagger Senior Honorary Society.  Active in alumni affairs, Gary is a Life Member of the Cornell University Council and is past President of the Cornell Club of Central Virginia.  Gary is also active in the community, having served as President of the Boy Scouts of America’s Heart of Virginia Council, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of St. Michael’s Episcopal School, and a member of the Advisory Board of Trinity Episcopal School.

Gary and his wife have two adult children and attend Reveille United Methodist Church in Richmond, Virginia, where among other things he has served on Church Council, numerous committees, and as a confirmation mentor.