Co-hosts Jon Stovell and Candace Smith speak with Rick Ostrander about his research and writing, including his new book, Academically Speaking: Lessons from a Life in Christian Higher Education (Eerdmans, 2024).

Dr. Rick Ostrander is Executive Director of the Michigan Christian Study Center. He holds a doctorate in American History from the University of Notre Dame. He also holds a master’s degree in history from the University of Notre Dame, a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Michigan, and a bachelor’s degree in theology from Moody Bible Institute.

As a scholar of American religion and an academic administrator, Dr. Ostrander maintains an active interest in Christian higher education. His publications include The Life of Prayer in a World of Science (Oxford, 2001), Head, Heart, Hand: John Brown University and Evangelical Higher Education (University of Arkansas, 2003), and “Spirituality and the Discipline of History,” in Searching for Spirituality in Higher Education (Peter Lang, 2007). A Fulbright Scholar to Germany in 2004, Dr. Ostrander complements his interest in American higher education with an active interest in global affairs and international education.

Dr. Ostrander’s book, Why College Matters to God: Academic Faithfulness and Christian Higher Education, was published in 2009 by Abilene Christian University Press and revised in 2012. It is one of the leading texts used by Christian college and universities for first-year seminars and new faculty orientations.

Rick and his wife Lonnie have four children. He is an avid cyclist who logs thousands of miles a year on his road bike.