Barbara Bellefeuille has been named the eighth president of Bethel University in Mishawaka, Indiana. Dr. Bellefeuille has served as interim president of the university since June 1, 2021. She is the first woman to serve in the university’s highest leadership role.
Bethel University enrolls nearly 1,200 undergraduate students and about 160 graduate students, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Education. Women make up 64 percent of the undergraduate student body.
Dr. Bellefeuille has served at Bethel University since 2012, spending almost nine years as vice president for academic services. Prior to coming to Bethel, she spent 21 years at Toccoa Falls College in Toccoa Falls, Georga. There she was vice president of academics, a professor of teacher education, and department chair.
“I am humbled and also thrilled by this appointment to serve as Bethel University’s eighth 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. I am determined to continue and, even strengthen, this focus: nothing else interests me,” Dr. Bellefeuille said.
Dr. Bellefeuille earned a bachelor’s degree in biblical education from Columbia International University in Columbia, South Carolina. She holds a master’s degree in educational administration from the Reformed Theological Seminary and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Virginia Tech.