Our People

Ross cheerfully serves as the Dean of St. Andrew’s Hall and holds a PhD from Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, as well as degrees from the University of Winnipeg, University of Toronto and McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago.

Ross delights in providing leadership for St. Andrew’s Hall, continually developing what it means to be a thriving Christian community, college and residence in the heart of one of Canada’s premier research universities.

Ross is author of West Coast Mission: the Changing Nature of Christianity in Vancouver; Lessons from Laodicea: Missional Leadership in a Culture of Affluence; Beyond Snakes and Shamrocks: St. Patrick’s Missional Leadership Lessons for Today; co-author of Better Than Brunch: Missional Churches in Cascadia as well as Christianity: An Asian Religion in Vancouver and editor of Christian Witness in Cascadian Soil.

An Ordained Minister in The Presbyterian Church in Canada, Ross has served congregations across Canada, as well as several shorter terms with The Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Ross is honoured to lead such a wonderful staff team at St. Andrew’s Hall and looks forward to meeting you in the near future.

Rev. Simpson holds a Bachelor of Education from Simon Fraser University, with a focus on educational psychology and a major in biology.

Her early career included teaching science in Maple Ridge, BC, and adult education in Swan River, Manitoba. She later pursued graduate theological studies and served as Camp Douglas Director for the Presbytery of Westminster. Most recently, she has been a valued professor at St. Andrew’s Hall, helping to shape future Presbyterian leaders.

Mavis is Executive Assistant to the Dean, Secretary to the Board of Management, as well as Administrative Assistant for the Centre for Missional Leadership.

Dr Mark Glanville (PhD, Trinity College, BristolI, UK) is the Director of the Centre for Missional Leadership at St. Andrews Hall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Mark trains leaders for post-Christian contexts, using biblical scholarship and jazz piano.

In combining vocations of scholarship, teaching, pastoring, and jazz, Mark has followed an uncommon path, but it is the synergy of these things—pastoring, researching, teaching, and creativity—that has shaped him to write and teach for the church with clarity and beauty. It is this synergy that equips him to train pastors with both theological depth and practical wisdom.

Rev. Dr. Tim Dickau serves as CML Associate for the Missional Leadership Certificate Program, as well as Director of City Gate Leadership Forum.

Tim’s work with CML is to design and lead monthly equipping sessions for congregational teams in the Certificate program, that helps local congregations engage their neighbourhoods in mission, evangelism and seeking justice through prophetic ministries. Tim holds a Master of Divinity from Regent College and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Carey Theological College. He is author of Plunging into the Kingdom Way. His forthcoming book, Humility and Hope: Forming Christian Communities in a Secular Age, is due out in the fall of 2020.

Mihye is the housing dynamo who drives all aspects of housing at SAH, ranging from room assignments, dealing with complaints, disciplining unruly types and a million other things.

Her mission is to make sure that all who stay at St. Andrew’s Hall feel safe and comfortable! She is always open to new ideas for improvement at the residences and you can find her “steering the housing wheel” in her office on the main floor.

Sumarme serves as the Chaplain and Community Life Director at St. Andrew’s Hall.

Her work at the Hall focuses on creating a hospitable environment for people to connect with one another and build authentic community. She is eager to help people grow in love for God and others through the spiritual practices of prayer, scripture reflection, worship, and intentional caring for their neighbuors on campus and beyond.

Sumarme especially enjoys encouraging students to deepen their views of calling and vocation. “When I was a university student, my emphasis was on achieving, performing, and positioning myself for a good career. After facing failures of various kinds, I discovered my education was also about weathering the storms of life in healthy ways and living a whole-life kind of faith in God. Campus life and academic work are demanding, so we need caring friends to have fun with, to engage us in conversations about things that truly matter to us, and to remind us that we are not alone.”

Sumarme earned her B.A. in Christian Education and Psychology from Seattle Pacific University and her M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary. She served two years at Ban Vinai refugee camp in Thailand and fourteen years in Family Ministry in two churches in Seattle, Washington, before moving to Canada.

Sumarme lives near UBC with her husband Scott, their two wonderful teen-aged daughters, and a puppy named Koda. She enjoys being active outdoors, eating food from every culture, and visiting with neighbours when walking Koda.

Helen, the Finance Manager at St. Andrew’s Hall, obtained her CPA, CGA over 25 years ago and has a passion for utilizing her financial and accounting skills in the not-for-profit sector. Helen also attended UBC “many years ago”, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language, and she is delighted to be back on campus overseeing the Finance Department at SAH.

Helen lives in the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver with her husband John, their two young adult children, and Casey their Australian Shepherd. She loves hiking, travelling, socializing with family and friends, reading books, and watching movies.

Jean is the Finance Assistant at St Andrew’s Hall, this means she sorts out the financial paperwork. At SAH, Jean can usually be found in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Jean has a love of numbers that have seen her in the classroom of secondary schools in the UK as well as tutoring individual students. Jean’s life outside of work has seen her volunteering for many years in conservation including drystone walling and teaching teenagers practical conservation skills.

Jean is married to Rob and they have been in Canada for just over two years. They love exploring the outdoors both on foot and in kayaks.

J. Andrew Yang, P.Eng., is Director of Market Strategy & Innovation at Bullfrog Power (an Envest company), where he leads market development and product innovation in renewable energy.

With more than two decades in the energy sector—spanning biogas, district energy, energy efficiency, and hydrogen—Andrew specializes in translating emerging opportunities into practical, scalable solutions for organizations. Andrew has faithfully served the English congregation at Vaughan Community Church for the past 20 years, and was ordained as an elder in 2020.

He brings strengths in strategy, stakeholder partnerships, and sustainability leadership. He is a licensed Professional Engineer, and a Mechanical Engineering graduate from the University of Waterloo.

Dr. Jenn Skelding is a respected educator, academic leader, and advocate for holistic student success in higher education. With over 30 years of experience in teaching and educational leadership, she brings a student-centred, research-informed approach to program development, pedagogy, and policy. Jenn currently serves in an administrative role at Brock University, where she leads initiatives in Student Life and Success that align with the student journey and institutional priorities.

Her work focuses on fostering a sense of belonging, confidence, and purpose across all years of post-secondary studies. She is recognized for fostering meaningful cross-campus collaborations, promoting inclusive student engagement practices, and developing accessible support services for first-generation, equity-deserving, and underrepresented students.

Jenn is also a curriculum theorist and experienced university instructor. Her interests include feminist curriculum theory, student voice and agency, and the integration of assessment for, as, and of learning. She is committed to promoting equity in education and serves as an advocate for student persistence, retention, and lifelong flourishing.

Karen was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and lived with her family in Ulster until the age of nine. A “preacher’s kid”, her family was called to Calgary Alberta, in the early 1970’s eventually moving again to the West Coast in 1978. She graduated from Steveston Senior Secondary School before attending the University of British Columbia where she obtained her BA and LLB degrees.

As a lawyer, Karen worked as a general solicitor – real estate, leasing, banking, corporate law and wills and estates, before realizing that her real interest lay in the Wills and Estates areas. Over time, these became her main areas of focus.

Karen’s interest has always been in people and their stories. She believes in dealing compassionately, efficiently and straightforwardly with her clients and their families – who often see her during times of stress and bereavement. Karen is mindful that for many clients, she is their only encounter with the legal system and she endeavors to make it a positive experience for them.

Through her career, Karen has volunteered on various boards and committees at Regent College, St. Andrew’s Hall and for the Presbyterian Church in Canada. She is a member of Fairview Presbyterian Church in Vancouver. She has a wide circle of friends and contacts through her long residency in this area and diverse involvements. Karen and her husband have two adult children and they all live, work and play in the Greater Vancouver Area.

Larry is an elder at Vancouver Taiwanese Presbyterian Church. Having lived in Taipei, Taiwan until age of 14, Larry attended school in Houston, TX, Boston, MA and Seattle, WA before permanently moving to Vancouver, BC.

Larry is a business lawyer and has practiced law for over 22 years focusing on corporate finance & securities and on advising venture capital start-ups. He advises early stage start-up companies to large publicly listed corporations on acquisitions, mergers, and reverse takeover transactions.

Because Larry grew up in Asia and frequently travels around the world, Larry often brings a unique perspective and cultural understanding to a situation. His passion is to promote Christian education to the youth and to help make Christian teachings germane in the contemporary, multicultural world.

He received his bachelor’s degree from Boston College majoring in mathematics and biology and his J.D. from Seattle University.

Elder, Grace Presbyterian Church, Calgary
Chair, Rozsa Foundation
Chair, Alberta Foundation for the Arts

Mary Lil Rozsa de Coquet became an Elder at Grace Presbyterian Church in Calgary in 1997, where she continues to serve on session and as the Representative Elder to the Presbytery of Calgary Macleod. Her grandfather was a Presbyterian preacher and church planter in Texas, Oklahoma, and Illinois.

Mary Lil is the long-time Chair of the Rozsa Foundation, a philanthropic family foundation founded in 1990 which is known for building arts sector capacity through innovative arts leadership programs, contribution to public arts policies and cutting-edge arts research. She is an acknowledged leader in the arts community and a creative philanthropist in her own right. She has served on several government and not-for-profit boards, most recently named as the Chair of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Mary Lil received a Bachelor of Arts Cum Laude from Trinity University in Texas, an Education Degree, and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Calgary. In 2012, she was a recipient of the Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal and in 2015 was named to the Order of Canada.

Professional Engineer
Chair, Vancouver Board of UrbanPromise Ministries
Vice-chair, UrbanPromise International (UPI)

Neil Singh is a husband, father, and professional engineer. An elder of City Centre Church in North Vancouver, Neil currently chairs their building committee and is their chief Zoom and Facebook Live broadcast operator. Married for nearly thirty years to Elaine, they have three (adult) children: two daughters and a son; one a registered nurse, and the others are studying to be a chemist and an engineer. They also raise two cats, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie Singh.

Neil chairs the Vancouver Board of UrbanPromise Ministries which operates as Promise Vancouver – a children’s outreach program on the downtown eastside. He is also the vice-chair for UrbanPromise International (UPI) which operates nearly 30 sites in 10 countries. UPI operations include schools, safe homes for street kids, girls empowerment programs, farms, vocational training and afterschool programs. A key part of Neil’s role is training young leaders in sustainable business planning and management.

Neil is a (semi-retired) Professional Engineer, working primarily with clients in the mining sector, to develop and manage tailings facilities to reduce and contain mining wastes and environmental impacts caused by mining. Throughout his career, Neil focused on training, developing and mentoring young engineers. He continues mentoring in his role as Chief Warden of Camp 5 – of the Corporation of the Seven Wardens – the uniquely Canadian organization that obligates young engineers and provides iron rings to Canadian engineers.

A resident of Surrey, BC, Neil recently (after he turned 50) took up road cycling and ice hockey.

Tim comes to St. Andrews Hall with a wealth of board experience, financial industry roles and governance training.

He is currently the chair of the Investment Committee of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, the chair of STEM Fellowship organization, past board member of the GTA Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) and the treasurer for St. Andrews Hall board.

Tim and his wife Linda are long standing members at Trinity Presbyterian Church York Mills in Toronto.