Meet the new divisional deans

As part of a reimagining process, EMU is positioning itself to better serve its students and fulfill its mission by reconfiguring its academic structure from three schools to two divisions. This new leadership structure will help the university work more efficiently and encourage greater integration and collaboration across academic programs. 

Two deans with extensive leadership experience have been appointed to lead the academic divisions, with both officially beginning their roles on July 1, 2025. The Rev. Dr. Sarah Ann Bixler, former associate dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary, serves as dean for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences division. Dr. Michael Horst, former interim associate dean, former director of EMU’s counseling program, and current director of its psychology program, serves as dean for the Health, Behavioral, and Natural Sciences division. The two divisional deans work closely with Dr. Tara Kishbaugh, dean of faculty and student success, and Jonathan Swartz, dean of students, and report to the provost.

Rev. Dr. Sarah Ann Bixler, dean for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences division

Education
BA, Eastern Mennonite University (English)
MDiv, Princeton Theological Seminary (Divinity)
PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary (Practical Theology/Christian Education)

Tell us a little about yourself
I started teaching at EMU as an adjunct instructor in 2018 at the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, campus. In 2019 I was hired for a continuing faculty position, teaching primarily in the seminary graduate program with an occasional undergraduate theology and religion course. In 2021, I took on administrative responsibilities as associate dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary. Before teaching, I had many other roles at EMU at various points in my adult life. I facilitated community as a residence director in Elmwood, served as president of the Alumni Association, cleaned rooms in the EMU Guest House, hosted summer groups with conferences and events, and waited tables for banquets. In 2002, I earned my undergraduate degree at EMU in English and secondary education with minors in mathematics and music.

I enjoy traveling, hiking, flower gardening, and playing piano. My spouse, three children, in-laws and I farm at the historic Lincoln Homestead in Linville with goats, chickens, cats, and big fruit and vegetable gardens.

What will you be doing in this new divisional dean role?
I give leadership to EMU’s academic programs in the humanities, arts and social sciences at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The value of these important areas of study is under threat right now, and I take my responsibility seriously to promote and position these programs for a strong future. I want to be sure dynamic and expert faculty will teach EMU students for decades to come, so EMU graduates will be equipped with the practical skills, creativity and critical thinking that these areas of study offer.

“The value of these important areas of study (the humanities, arts and social sciences) is under threat right now, and I take my responsibility seriously to promote and position these programs for a strong future.”

Rev. Dr. Sarah Ann Bixler, dean for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences division

What excites you most about the year(s) ahead?
Higher education is entering a new way of being. Students expect to engage technology in their learning, while also longing for human engagement in the process. We learn the most when we interact with others who bring different experiences and perspectives that open new ways for us to understand ourselves and the world. I’m excited about how technology is expanding our classrooms with new ways of communicating and interacting, and how our EMU learning community has the opportunity to grow more than ever before.

FAST FACTS Other than the people, what do you like most about EMU? EMU is unwavering in its commitment to liberative education. We teach and learn in ways that support openness, critical engagement, belonging and freedom. I want to invest my career in this kind of work, because I believe the way EMU educates will change the world. What’s your favorite spot on campus? I love walking to the top of the EMU Hill and standing beside the Discipleship Center where I can see a 360-degree view of the Shenandoah Valley, with the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains on each side. It’s breathtaking and invites me to marvel at God’s presence. Sometimes I’m so caught up in the beauty that I start to cry. What’s your candy guilty pleasure? My favorite candy is York Peppermint Patties. They have the sharpness of peppermint and just the right thin layer of dark chocolate. I haven’t ever eaten a whole bag, but I think I could!

What is your favorite EMU memory?
Earlier this spring, I had the privilege of taking 12 students on an intercultural learning experience to Europe along with Dr. Heike Peckruhn. My favorite EMU memory is sitting together in reverent silence in a dark cave in the wooded hills of Switzerland, where Anabaptists met together in secret 500 years ago. The early Anabaptists went there to encourage one another in resisting the state and religious authorities that forbade their radical beliefs and practices of nonviolent community. So did we.

What object can you not live without?
I need a navigational tool. I like to drive to new places or go for walks in unfamiliar settings, but I get turned around and can’t find my way home. Before I had a cellphone, I carried a book of road maps in my car. Now the Google Maps app on my phone serves me well. A knowledgeable friend is even better. I love exploring new towns and cities or wandering around paths in rural areas, but I can only enjoy myself if I know I can end up back where I belong.

What song has been on repeat for you lately?
This question made me realize how infrequently I choose my own music in this season of my life. My 12- and 15-year-old daughters are my constant DJs, whether we’re riding in the car together, working in the kitchen, or doing yard work. When the voices of Taylor Swift and Demi Lovato aren’t in my ears, my fingers will find their way to the keys and play “Draw the Circle Wide.” Mark A. Miller’s powerful hymns are my go-to songs right now.

What quote or saying keeps you going?
Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky wrote, “People don’t resist change, they resist loss.” With an administrative leadership role in higher education in the social sciences, arts and humanities, I’ll have to lead people through a lot of change. This quote keeps me curious about what people need and value in the midst of change, and reminds me to be sensitive because change inevitably brings loss.

What hobby, skill or topic are you learning right now?
When I visited Europe for the first time in 2017, I was astounded by the large stone walls everywhere. I came home and told my spouse I wanted to learn stonemasonry. I was completely serious. He chuckled and replied, “I think you’ll have to choose between finishing your PhD and becoming a stonemason.” After I completed my doctorate, he prepared the base and then my daughter and I successfully built a small limestone retaining wall on our farm. Now I have a few more masonry projects in mind.

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Dr. Michael Horst, dean for the Health, Behavioral, and Natural Sciences division

Education
BS, Eastern Mennonite University (Psychology)
MA, Eastern Mennonite University (Counseling)
PhD, James Madison University (Counselor Education & Supervision)

Tell us a little about yourself
I’ve been a part of EMU in many ways over the years. I’ve been a custodian, exterior window washer, floor cleaner (shampooing carpets and waxing tile floors), I’ve arranged seating in classrooms and larger venues like Martin Chapel and Yoder Arena, I’ve been an apartment manager, undergraduate student, graduate student, clinical mental health counselor with our EMU Counseling Services, adjunct instructor, full-time instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, grant project director, program director (undergraduate and graduate), interim associate dean, and now I serve as dean of the division of Health, Behavioral, and Natural Sciences [HBNS]. I may have missed a few roles I’ve held at EMU over the years, but it’s safe to say that I’ve seen EMU from many different angles. EMU is a special place, and I’m grateful to be part of its story.

When I’m not at EMU, I enjoy spending time with my wife, Simone, and our children. I also enjoy weightlifting, tinkering with computers, watching movies, listening to podcasts, and reading. 

What will you be doing in this new divisional dean role?
In collaboration with HBNS program directors and the provost, I’ll provide leadership and support to our academic programs in the health, behavioral, and natural sciences [HBNS] division. I hope to help build relationships with community partners and support the enhancement of our innovative, timely, and mission-aligned curricula in the HBNS division. We have outstanding faculty and staff at EMU, and I want EMU to be a place where they can thrive as they engage with students. I hope to support that thriving through this new divisional dean role. 

What excites you most about the year(s) ahead?
You don’t have to look far to see a great number of issues that need to be addressed, and I’m a staunch believer that education and knowledge generation are some of our greatest tools to solve these issues. Courses of study in the HBNS division prepare students to lead on the cutting edge of innovation in science, technology, healthcare, and more. I’m excited to be part of that work.

FAST FACTS What is your favorite EMU memory? Simone (my spouse) and I met at EMU, and I have many fond memories of coffee at Common Grounds, walks around campus, and eating ice cream on waffles in the cafeteria. Try it sometime!  What’s your candy guilty pleasure? Diet Dr. Pepper. Does that count as candy? It feels like candy.  What hobby, skill, or topic are you learning right now? I’m passionate about a process called Focusing or Felt-Sensing, which is a personal and therapeutic practice that was developed by Eugene Gendlin. Ask me about it sometime! What song has been on repeat for you lately? This question inspired me to reconnect with music I used to love. These days, I mostly listen to NPR in the car (despite teasing from my children) and podcasts throughout the day. I’ve been a long-time listener to This Jungian Life, a podcast about Jungian psychoanalysis.

What object can you not live without?
When leaving a visit with my in-laws, my father in-law will sometimes say, “If you forgot anything, just give us a call…and we’ll tell you how to live without it!” I try to cultivate this sort of non-attachment to material objects and recognize that I can be content with a great deal less than I have. That said, I sure would miss my cellphone and computers. 

What quote or saying keeps you going?
Two quotes spring to mind. These quotes help me remember to always imagine other people complexly and to hold the same space for myself. 

From Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” in Leaves of Grass:

“Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)”

And from Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler), author of The Grim Grotto, the eleventh novel in A Series of Unfortunate Events:

“People aren’t either wicked or noble. They’re like chef’s salads, with good things and bad things chopped and mixed together in a vinaigrette of confusion and conflict.”

What’s your favorite spot on campus?
I think I’ve taught a class in the Discipleship Center every week of the academic year for at least the past 10 years (excluding COVID, when we were all online). I love the views, especially early in the morning as the sun comes up. I have many special memories in that building. Before I had children, I used to get to the Discipleship Center as the sun was rising so that I could set up the space and prepare for my morning class. Those contemplative and deliberate moments always left me centered and grounded for the day. 

Other than the people, what do you like most about EMU?
I’ll say the people anyway! The community and culture of this place makes it special. Additionally, our mission and values are needed more than ever. EMU is excellently positioned to empower students with resilience, agency, knowledge, and skills to address the major issues of our day and days to come. Our Anabaptist values of simplicity, justice and mercy, environmental stewardship, care for the oppressed and impoverished, and our central devotion to nonviolence and peacemaking infuse a transformative curriculum. At EMU, we can train peacemakers and revolutionary systems thinkers, technological innovators of clean energy solutions and computational ethics, inspirational educators who embody and implement restorative justice and inclusivity in school systems, business leaders who prioritize the needs of workers and the environment, and health care workers who care for patients above profit. As I said earlier, we are well-positioned to prepare students to work to create a more just, sustainable, and peace-driven world.

“Our mission and values are needed more than ever. EMU is excellently positioned to empower students with resilience, agency, knowledge, and skills to address the major issues of our day and days to come.”

Dr. Michael Horst, dean for the Health, Behavioral, and Natural Sciences division