Tabor College

Tabor V.P. Dr. Lawrence Ressler Named Alumnus of the Year by Eastern Mennonite High School

October 12, 2007

Categories: General News

Dr. Lawrence E. Dr. Ressler, Vice President of Academics and Student Development at Tabor College, has been selected 2007 Alumnus of the Year by Eastern Mennonite High School in Harrisonburg, Va.

Dr. Ressler, who graduated from EMHS in 1972, will be recognized at the school’s Homecoming on Oct. 21 for 35 years of serving God’s kingdom through Christian social work, teaching and administration.

The trip to Harrisonburg will be a family reunion for the Resslers. All six of his brothers and sisters, and two of three children, graduated from EMHS or nearby Eastern Mennonite University, and many of them will be there for the recognition ceremony.

“The Ressler family or our children have had a presence in one of the two Eastern Mennonite institutions for over 40 years, so Harrisonburg has become our home in a way,” Dr. Ressler said. “Even now, our two daughters are living in Harrisonburg.”

Of all the Resslers who graduated from EMHS, Lawrence isn’t sure why he was chosen to be the high school’s Alumnus of the Year.

“It’s a humbling experience to be selected from among so many others who deserve the honor, which includes my five brothers and sisters who all graduated from EMHS and are equally or more deserving,” he said.

“I have a brother who works for UNICEF; a sister who works with Native American families in South Dakota; a brother who has helped develop a foundation to assist a hospital in Tanzania; a sister who cares for neglected children, and a pilot brother.

“My first reaction was and still is, Why me?”

Founded in 1917, Eastern Mennonite High School continues its strong commitment to the goals and ideals of its founders. There, students are challenged through a rigorous academic program and learn to apply Biblical standards to life’s decisions.

“My passion for faith-based education began with my experience at EMHS,” Dr. Ressler said. “I developed a worldview that has sustained me for 35 years.”

When he was growing up, Dr. Ressler’s parents left their farm in northeastern Ohio to do missions work with the Mennonite church among Appalachian people in southern Ohio. They dressed in plain clothes typical of conservative Mennonites, but soon decided it was getting in the way of their church work and stopped dressing so distinctively. Paid very little by the local church, Dr. Ressler’s father helped make ends meet for his large family selling kitchen utensils door-to-door as a “Fuller Brush man.”

“Theologically, I grew up Mennonite, but culturally, I grew up hillbilly,” Dr. Ressler said. “We grew up very poor economically but rich with vision and service to others. It was a great combination.”

The idea that his Christian faith could translate into service to others through social work was instilled in Dr. Ressler by his parents, his teachers at EMHS, and later through his professors at nearby Eastern Mennonite University. Dr. Ressler’s quest to become a teacher in higher education began when he was mowing lawns to help pay for his high school tuition, and a customer said to him, “I think someday you’ll be a professor.”

From that point on, Dr. Ressler began to prepare for a teaching career, selecting courses and experiences that would make him a better teacher. He also did a practicum in a prison and voluntary service in inner city Philadelphia so he could understand these situations better.

“Teaching social work in a Christian college seemed to be the best of all worlds,” he said. “It has been.”

Dr. Ressler received a BA in Sociology and BSW in Social Work from Eastern Mennonite University. In 1976 he married Sharon Martin, and they went to Philadelphia in Mennonite Voluntary Service. In Philadelphia, Dr. Ressler earned his Master’s in Social Work from Temple University in 1979, and a Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University in 1990. During this time Lawrence and Sharon’s three children were born: Daniele, Stephanie and Jake.

Throughout his career, Dr. Ressler’s faith has guided him through significant social work involvements.

In academics, he helped develop undergraduate social work programs at Malone College, Messiah College, and Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya, as well as a graduate social work program at Roberts Wesleyan College. He also has taught social work at the Russian American Christian University in Moscow and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He served as a curriculum consultant to Mt. Vernon Nazarene College, and was a member of numerous social work accreditation and evaluation teams.

In his social work practice, Dr. Ressler served 15 years as a leader in the North American Association of Christians in Social Work. His work took him to Nairobi to study the relationship of street children and AIDS orphans; to Thailand to study social problems in two Cambodian refugee camps, and to New York City as a volunteer leader with The Salvation Army, responding to the World Trade Center disaster.

In 1999, he co-authored the book, “Making Peace with Conflict.”

In his current role as Vice President of Academics and Student Development at Tabor College, Dr. Ressler plays a leading role in the integration of faith and learning throughout the institution.

“It is a privilege to be at Tabor College, which is fully committed to faith-based learning,” Dr. Ressler said.

The greatest outcome of being honored as Alumnus of the Year by his high school, Dr. Ressler says, is the opportunity it has given him to reflect about his life to this point.

“This has led me to a renewed sense of gratefulness for my parents, my brothers, sisters and friends, the Christian education I received, the opportunities that have come my way, and the goodness of God,” he said. “I’m not sure that I’m more deserving than others to be honored for what I have done, but I am sure that I could not have done what little I did without the support of others.

“To honor one is to honor the many who have been a part of the journey of the one being honored.”

Former EMHS faculty member Sarah Bixler contributed to this rreport.