Past Leadership

The following individuals have been leaders of the Board of Founders of Nanking Theological Seminary and the Foundation for Theological Education in Asia and Pacific.

1937 to 1961

Frank T. Cartwright, Secretary for China, Japan, Korea, and East Asia of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was elected Secretary of the Board of Founders at its organizational meeting in 1937 and served until his retirement in 1961. Sometime before his retirement, his title became Executive Secretary.

1952 to 1957

C. Stanley Smith was appointed Board of Founders Field Representative in South East Asia, with an office in Bangkok for the first year, then in Singapore.

1957 to 1967

John R. Fleming, Church of Scotland missionary, was appointed Field Representative in 1957, with his office in Singapore. When Frank T. Cartwright retired in 1961, Fleming was appointed Executive Secretary. The Board of Founders (in 1963 FTESEA) official office was moved to Singapore, with a part-time clerical office continued in New York. When the Association of Theological Schools in South East Asia (ATSSEA) was formed in 1959, Fleming was appointed its Executive Director.

1967 to 1972

When John Fleming returned to Scotland in 1967, Kosuke Koyama was appointed the ATSSEA Executive Director, and Alan Thomson was appointed the FTESEA’s Executive Director. Both had their offices in Singapore.

1972 to 1977

When Thomson returned to the USA in 1972, Ivy Chou, from Malaysia, was appointed by the FTESEA and the Theological Education Fund of the World Council of Churches to be the Executive Director of their Joint South East Asia office. The office was in Bromiley, England.

1977 to 1981

When Ivy Chou retired in 1977, Marvin D. Hoff, Secretary for Operations and Finance in the Reformed Church in America, was seconded by the RCA to serve as the interim FTESEA Executive Director.

1981 to 1994

Hoff served as the part-time FTESEA Executive Director while serving as the Senior Minister of the Reformed Church of Palos Heights, Illinois, and the President of Western Theological Seminary, Holland, Michigan.

1994 to 2003

When FTESEA established an Advancement Program, Hoff added these new responsibilities to his contract as the FTESEA’s Executive Director and did not seek another ministry in the RCA.

2004-2006

FTESEA decided to end its Advancement Program at the December 2003 Annual Meeting. Hoff continued to serve as Executive Director

2006-2022

Marvin Hoff retired as Executive Director of FTESEA, and H.S. Wilson was appointed as the new Executive Director.

2022

H.S. Wilson retired as Executive Director of FTESEA, and Wati Longchar was appointed as the new Executive Director.