Chaplain's Office Staff
"The future belongs to those who give the next generation resason for hope"
-Pierre Teilhard De Chardin
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Sharon Kugler University Chaplain 432-1128 |
Sharon M.K. Kugler became the seventh University Chaplain to Yale in July of 2007. She came to New Haven from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore where she had served as the University Chaplain since 1993. Sharon has over two decades of experience in ministry in higher education, interfaith collaboration, pastoral and social ministry. Her main focus at Yale is to further cultivate a chaplaincy for students, faculty and staff which defines itself by serving the needs of the richly diverse religious and spiritual traditions on campus allowing for deeper dialogue, increased accessibility, personal growth, creative educational opportunities and pastoral leadership. Together with the Associate Chaplains, the Chaplain’s Office staff and the members of Yale Religious Ministry she is cultivating an inclusive sense of community within a religiously plural population.
Sharon is the past president of both the National Association of College and University Chaplains (NACUC) and the Association of College and University Religious Affairs (ACURA). Sharon received her Masters degree from Georgetown University and is a member of the Theta Alpha Kappa National Honor Society for Religious Studies and Theology. Her masters thesis, "The Limits and Possibilities of Building a Religiously Plural Community" was used by the United States Department of Defense Office of the Chief of Chaplains as a training tool for new chaplains in the military.
Sharon is Roman Catholic and originates from northern California. She is married and has two daughters.
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The Reverend Ian Oliver Senior Associate Chaplain for Protestant Life, Pastor of the University Church 432-1131 |
The Reverend Ian Buckner Oliver begins his service as Pastor of the University Church in July 2008. Prior to Yale, he served for twelve years as University Chaplain at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where he was pastor of the Rooke Chapel Congregation on campus and coordinator for the university's religious affairs. From 1990-1996, he served as Associate Chaplain at the Kodaikanal International School in South India under appointment from the United Church Board for World Ministries.
Born and raised in El Paso, Texas, Ian is a graduate of Amherst College with a major in Religion and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. His ministerial studies were at the University of Chicago Divinity School. He was a chaplaincy intern at Kalamazoo College from 1983-85 with Robert D. Dewey (YDS '51). He was ordained to the ministry through the Chicago Metropolitan Association of the Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ.
Ian's professional interests have been at the intersections of college student development, historic Protestant Christianity, and interfaith relations. He has been a contributing member of the "Secularity and the Liberal Arts" grant through the Teagle Foundation "Big Questions" grant program, exploring issues of meaning, engagement and the liberal arts.
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The ReverendCallista Isabelle |
Callista Isabelle is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American (ELCA) and is a 2005 graduate of Yale Divinity School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. She was raised on a farm in Iowa, spent time living in the mountains of Washington State at Holden Village retreat center, and returns to New Haven after an internship in college chaplaincy at Gustavus Adolphus College (Saint Peter, Minnesota). In her work as Associate University Chaplain, Callista helps with worship in the University Church, including the development of a student-led evening prayer service on Sunday nights. Her work focuses on undergraduate students and the Protestant Christian community at Yale. She loves collaborating with students to plan evening prayer services and other programs of the Chaplain’s Office. Listening to students’ needs and ideas is central to this work. She also provides pastoral care to the Yale community through individual conversations with students, faculty and staff, and by helping students connect with others in the Yale community. She loves singing in early music ensembles and leading global music in congregations. In her free time, you’ll find Callista camping with her spouse Geoff or singing any time she gets the chance.
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Omer Bajwa Coordinator for Muslim Life 432-8753 |
Omer Bajwa has been appointed "Coordinator of Muslim Life" at Yale beginning Fall 08. Born in Pakistan, Omer emigrated to the United States at the age of three, growing up in Upstate New York. He is presently completing his Graduate Certificate in Islamic Chaplaincy from Hartford Seminary, and he has been engaged in religious service, social activism, and educational outreach for the past eight years.
Before coming to Yale, he served as the Interim Muslim Chaplain at Cornell University during 2007-2008. He received his MA in Near Eastern Studies, with a specialization in Islamic Studies, from Cornell's Department of Near Eastern Studies, where he also served as the Outreach Coordinator. He also earned an MS in Communication from Cornell, and a BA in English Literature and Rhetoric from Binghamton University. His interests include Islam in the United States, interfaith activities, Islam and the global media, and transnational religious and intellectual networks.
Accompanied with his wife Lisa and their son Yaqub, Omer is looking forward to interacting with the Yale community. When not working, he and his family can often be found sampling local desserts.
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Nathaniel DeLuca Program Coordinator 432-8751 |
Nat DeLuca the Chaplain's Office Program Coordinator He is a graduate of Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, MA Archaeology, '06, and NYU, BA Anthropoogy, '02. Having learned all there is to know about human origins, he now feels prepared to work for the benefit of the species. While not in school, Nat worked at Camp Calumet Lutheran in Freedom, NH for ten years specializing in leadership training and program development, honing his skills in campfire lighting and discovering a preference for living in a tent. He has also worked in two white-shoe law firms in corporate litigation and would rather not talk about it.
Nat is very excited to be working with persons from all relgious and spiritual traditions and warmly welcomes those seeking their own path. He is particularly eager to help faith groups collaborate towards common goals of communtiy service and understanding.
A son of the salt marshes and mountains of New England, Nat is happiest within smelling distance of salt water or in subalpine zones where he's taller than the trees.
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Altaf Saadi
Woodbridge Fellow |
Altaf Saadi is a graduate of Yale College, MC ’08, working in the Chaplain’s Office on the Woodbridge Fellowship. She received her BA in Psychology (Behavioral Neuroscience) and International Studies, and hails originally from southern California, Canada, Iran, and Iraq. As an undergraduate at Yale, Altaf combined her religious ideals with principles of social justice, and was an active advocate in student efforts to enhance campus sensitivity to issues of race, ethnicity, and religion. At Commencement, she was the recipient of two awards – the Nakanishi Prize, for exemplary leadership in enhancing race and/or ethnic relations at Yale College, and the David Everett Chantler Award, for courage, strength of character, and high moral purpose. This year, Altaf is excited to be part of the Chaplain’s Office team, meeting and organizing with students of various faiths and contributing to the broader goal of creating an inclusive and hospitable campus community.
When Altaf is not busy pursuing happiness in her work at the Chaplain’s Office, she can be found exploring her interests in medicine, watching reality television, or just jumping around (sometimes on a trampoline). She also has four fabulous siblings, the cutest of which is Deena.
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Debra Rohr |
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Samantha Smart Administrative Assistant 432-1128 |
Gale Iannone
Administrative Assistant
gale.iannone@yale.edu
Gale Iannone is a native of Connecticut and began working for Yale University 28 years ago. She has held positions in all three of Yale's areas—Medical, Science, and Central, and is now in the Chaplain's Office on Old Campus. Before coming to Yale, she graduated from Central Connecticut State College and began her career as a psychiatric assistant at the newly built Connecticut Mental Health Center in New Haven, in the Emergency Treatment Unit. She then married and took an extended family leave when her son, Jonathan, was born. During that leave Gale also became very involved in establishing and training her own champion bloodline of German Shorthaired Pointers and developed a nationally respected kennel known as Nutmeg Kennel. She bred, raised, and trained her dogs for field, obedience, and breed shows, and was also an invited judge at breed specialty shows. Gale finally returned to work at Yale in 1979. Besides working at Yale, she is now content to spoil her 7-year-old granddaughter, Sophie, and enjoys water gardening and tending her prize Japanese koi fish. She lives in North Haven with master carpenter husband, Gary Takach. Along with Gary, she has done volunteer work for the Westchester Children's Hospital building campaign, AmeriCare and Habitat for Humanity, and is currently an active member of The North Haven Sons & Daughters of Italy.
