Indiana's Bethel University names its first woman president

MISHAWAKA, Ind. (AP) — A longtime vice president for northern Indiana’s Bethel University has been named the first woman president of the private Christian liberal arts university.

School officials announced Thursday that the university's trustees have chosen Barbara Bellefeuille to assume the institution’s top leadership role, effective immediately.

Her appointment makes Bellefeuille the first woman to hold the Mishawaka school's top post, the South Bend Tribune reported.

She succeeds former president Gregg Chenoweth, who accepted an appointment last year as president of Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois.

Bellefeuille had been serving as Bethel’s interim president since last June.

She had previously served for nine years as the university’s vice president for academic services. In that role, she was responsible for hiring and developing faculty, implementing academic programs and setting a vision for the university.

Bellefeuille said in a news release that she was humbled and thrilled to serve as president.

“For 75 years, Bethel University has prepared men and women in a variety of vocations, but all have been uniformly educated in biblical truth,” she said.