Trinity Western University is pleased to recognize the outstanding contributions of faculty members who have been awarded tenure or have received promotions in 2025.
At Trinity Western, faculty are at the forefront of integrating faith and academics and providing Christ-centered, student-focused education to our global campus community. We honour our faculty members' excellence in research, teaching, service, scholarship, and contributions to advancing Christian higher education.
Tenure is a designation of permanent employment that recognizes sustained excellence and commitment, while promotion reflects a faculty member’s advancement in academic rank.
Every year, faculty members continue to achieve significant milestones. We are delighted to congratulate the following faculty members on receiving tenure and/or promotion in 2025.
2025 Faculty Tenure Appointments:
Dr. Alyssa Fenuta, Assistant Professor of Human Kinetics
Alyssa Fenuta, PhD, CSEP-CPT, from TWU’s School of Human Kinetics has expertise in exercise physiology and adapted physical activity. She holds a PhD in Kinesiology from Queen’s University, where her research explored the effects of nitrate supplementation on oxygen delivery and high-intensity exercise performance. She also participated in the design and delivery of the curriculum associated with Queen’s University’s Certificate in Disability and Physical Activity (DIPA). Through her earlier graduate work at McMaster University, she contributed to the development of the Canadian physical activity guidelines for adults with Multiple Sclerosis, released by the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology in 2013. She has been involved with Exercise is Medicine delivering educational workshops to healthcare professionals about the importance of engaging in physical activity pursuits themselves, and furthermore, equipping them to have conversations with their patients/clients regarding lifestyle interventions. Her academic and research interests include exercise physiology, holistic health, and “exercise is medicine” across the lifespan. With an extensive background in varsity athletics, she has a strong commitment to leadership development in student-athletes.
Dr. Gang Li, Assistant Professor of Leadership
Gang Li, PhD, is a scholar and professor of leadership with TWU GLOBAL. As a researcher with expertise in areas of leadership, international higher education, democracy, and governance, Dr. Li frequently shares his ideas at international conferences. He completed an MSc in Education with distinction as a Chevening Scholar at Cardiff University and earned his PhD in Educational Studies from the University of British Columbia. Teaching in both TWU’s graduate and undergraduate programs, Dr. Li is particularly interested in reimagining leadership studies from the perspective of a Christian worldview. His current projects include collaborating with other scholars in the China Innovative Urban-rural Governance Research Network to advance conceptual bases of community leadership in rural China through case study research. He is a member of the International Leadership Association and the Association of Leadership Educators, and he serves as board chair of Global Scholars Canada.
Dr. Laura A. Onyango, Assistant Professor of Biology
Laura A. Onyango, PhD, has expertise in mitigating the global antimicrobial resistance crisis and its effects in different settings using the One Health approach. She holds a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Newcastle (Australia). Her teaching interests center on microbiology in clinical, environmental, and industrial settings; human microbiome as it relates to health and disease; public health, immunology, and epidemiology. Her research investigates Staphylococci and small colony variants (SCVs) in nosocomial and community-acquired infections, antimicrobial resistance and One Health, waterborne infections, metabolite profiling, and wastewater reclamation and potable reuse. Since joining TWU in 2020, Dr. Onyango has received several research awards, including a Provost Research Award and Internal Research Award, and she is also a Research Fellow with the John Templeton Foundation and The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust through a grant awarded to TWU. Dr. Onyango actively mentors students in research and in presenting at conferences, including at the Murdock College Science Research Conference, where Dr. Onyango’s students have won conference awards two years in a row.
Dr. Kendra Rieger, Associate Professor of Nursing
Kendra Rieger, PhD, RN, brings a wealth of research, teaching, and practice experience to her role at TWU's School of Nursing. She has extensive clinical experience in maternal-child nursing and expertise in arts-based approaches in healthcare and evidence synthesis. As a Michael Smith Health Research BC Scholar, her research program explores the arts as a way of knowing, disrupting, and healing in healthcare and advances arts-based responses to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action. Together with a team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners, she is currently investigating the use of storytelling as a method in Indigenous health research; arts-based, anti-racist strategies to support healthcare students in responding to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Report; and arts-based spiritual care programs to support diverse patients facing complex illnesses. She has received numerous awards for research excellence, including a Society for Integrative Oncology New Investigators’ Forum Award, an Association of Registered Nurses of Manitoba Medal of Excellence, and a CIHR Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships Doctoral Award.
Dr. Katie Steeves, Associate Professor of Sociology
Katie Steeves, PhD, specializes in gender, religion, micro-sociology and qualitative research methods. She holds a PhD and MA in Sociology from McMaster University and a BA from Crandall University. She is passionate about teaching theory and introductory sociology courses and mentoring undergraduate researchers. Her current research attempts to explore the experiences of women in religious leadership positions, investigating and encouraging the budding relationship between sociology of religion and feminist theories in sociology while also connecting with and contributing back to religious practitioners. She is also involved in research on flourishing congregations in Canada as part of a national team exploring definitions and experiences of flourishing in several case study congregations. She has been the recipient of a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Development Grant to study Religious and Gendered Selves on the Front Stage of Leadership, and she is part of a research team that received a Council for Christian Colleges & Universities Networking Grant for Christian Scholars.
Dr. Glen R. Van Brummelen, Professor of Mathematical Sciences
Glen R. Van Brummelen, PhD, is a historian of mathematics and astronomy in ancient and medieval cultures, sometimes described as the only historian of trigonometry in the world. He is the author of The Mathematics of the Heavens and the Earth: The Early History of Trigonometry (Princeton, 2009), Heavenly Mathematics: The Forgotten Art of Spherical Trigonometry (Princeton, 2013), Trigonometry: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2020), and The Doctrine of Triangles: A History of Modern Trigonometry (Princeton, 2021). His discoveries on the origin and history of the decimal system have garnered international attention. Dr. Van Brummelen has served twice as president of the Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Mathematics. He won the Mathematical Association of America’s Haimo Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2016 and the 3M National Teaching Fellowship in 2017.
2025 Faculty Promotions:
Dr. Ella Ruth Anaya promoted to Associate Professor of Leadership
E. Ruth Anaya, DLitt et Phil, has expertise in gender studies, cultural anthropology, cross-cultural communication, and leadership. She speaks regularly on global and transformational leadership, culture change, socio-economic development in the Global South. She holds a DLitt et Phil from the University of South Africa, an MA in Cross-Cultural Communication from Wheaton Graduate School, and a BA in Social Sciences from Vanguard University. A pioneering researcher, she contributed to the first GLOBE study on leadership in Black Sub-Saharan Africa. She has developed travel studies to provide students with in-country learning experiences in Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Kenya, and Uganda. Expanding education digitally, Dr. Anaya has also developed online programs in anthropology. In 2005, Dr. Anaya received the Provost Innovative Teaching Award for scholarly innovation. She continues to teach a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses on intercultural leadership, communication, globalization, and employee engagement, in both Canadian and global contexts.
Prof. Alysha Creighton promoted to Associate Professor of Art + Design
Alysha Creighton, MFA, teaches all levels of art and design in TWU’s School of Arts Media and Culture and currently serves as chair of the Department of Art + Design. In addition, Creighton is TWU’s gallery coordinator, overseeing the Langley campus art exhibitions that regularly feature the works of students, alumni, and special guests. She holds an MFA in Drawing and Intermedia from the University of Alberta and a BA in Visual Art with a Minor in Worship Studies from Trinity Western University. In her art, Creighton frequently explores themes of ecology, climate change, health, and intersubjectivity through cross-disciplinary collaboration. Recent exhibitions include Upstream/Downriver: Walking the stɑl̓əw̓ Watershed, which toured multiple locations throughout B.C.’s Lower Mainland. Creighton’s work has also been exhibited throughout North America and in Europe. An active supporter of the local arts community, Creighton serves as board president of the Fort Gallery, the Fraser Valley’s only artist-run centre.
Prof. Caitlin Friesen promoted to Assistant Professor of Nursing
Caitlin Friesen, MSN, RN, teaches in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at Trinity Western University, where she also completed her undergraduate nursing degree and Master of Science in Nursing. Friesen brings clinical expertise in maternal and newborn health to her teaching. She provides students with experiential learning of nursing care within the nursing SIM laboratory and in clinical settings, supporting students in courses such as Clinical Practice: Adult Health I, Family Health I, and Adult Health III, while continuing her professional practice as a registered nurse.
Dr. Ronnie Gao promoted to Professor of Business
Ronnie Gao, PhD, has taught at Trinity Western University since 2014 following a diverse international career in engineering, marketing, and business development. He holds a BEng in Electrical Engineering from Tongji University, an MBA from the University of British Columbia, and a PhD in Business Administration from Drexel University. Prior to academia, Dr. Gao held leadership roles in railway engineering and international marketing. His research focuses on cross-cultural consumer behaviour, green consumer behaviour, and salespeople behaviour. He has received multiple conference grants and an Excellence in Teaching Award from Drexel University. At TWU, Dr. Gao teaches both undergraduate and graduate studies, including courses in consumer behaviour, international marketing management, marketing research, and marketing management.
Dr. Katie Steeves promoted to Associate Professor of Sociology
Katie Steeves, PhD, specializes in gender, religion, micro-sociology and qualitative research methods. She holds a PhD and MA in Sociology from McMaster University and a BA from Crandall University. She is passionate about teaching theory and introductory sociology courses and mentoring undergraduate researchers. Her current research attempts to explore the experiences of women in religious leadership positions, investigating and encouraging the budding relationship between sociology of religion and feminist theories in sociology while also connecting with and contributing back to religious practitioners. She is also involved in research on flourishing congregations in Canada as part of a national team exploring definitions and experiences of flourishing in several case study congregations. She has been the recipient of a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Development Grant to study Religious and Gendered Selves on the Front Stage of Leadership, and she is part of a research team that received a Council for Christian Colleges & Universities Networking Grant for Christian Scholars.
Congratulations to all TWU faculty members receiving tenure and/or promotion in 2025.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is a global Christian liberal arts university. We are dedicated to equipping students to discover meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. Drawing upon the riches of the Christian tradition, seeking to unite faith and reason through teaching and scholarship, Trinity Western University is a degree-granting research institution offering liberal arts and sciences as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has campuses in Canada in Langley, Richmond, and Ottawa. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Instagram @trinitywestern, Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn. For media inquiries, please contact: media@twu.ca.