David Diener
Dr. David Diener works at Hillsdale College where he is an Assistant Professor of Education. Previous experience includes fifteen years in K-12 private education, eleven of those in administration and eight as headmaster of classical Christian schools. He also is a Fellow on the Alcuin Fellowship National Council and Director of the Alcuin Fellowship Midwest Chapter, serves on the Board of Directors for the Society for Classical Learning and the Board of Academic Advisors for the Classic Learning Test, is a member of the National Council of Classical Educators, and offers consulting services through Classical Academic Press. He is the author of Plato: The Great Philosopher-Educator and has published articles on Plato, Kierkegaard, and various topics in philosophy of education. He also serves as the series editor for Classical Academic Press’ series Giants in the History of Education and is an associate editor for the journal Principia: a Journal of Classical Education. He holds a BA in Philosophy and Ancient Languages from Wheaton College as well as an MA in Philosophy, an MS in History and Philosophy of Education, and a dual PhD in Philosophy and Philosophy of Education from Indiana University.
Robyn Burlew
Robyn Estep Burlew was blessed to be born to two Christian parents who were both teachers. She grew up in rural New York state, enjoying snowy winters, school and church activities, and all sorts of learning. Robyn majored in Biology at Houghton College and earned a Master’s Degree in Integrated Curriculum and Instruction at Covenant College. She has served at two classical Christian schools—Covenant Christian Academy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Veritas School in Richmond, Virginia. Her roles have included teaching biology, mathematics, literature, Logic, and 6th grade; serving as an Academic Dean and Head of Upper School. Robyn has three adult daughters and three grandchildren. In her leisure time, she enjoys knitting, playing the piano, kayaking, and hiking.
Brian Williams
Dr. Williams is the General Editor of Principia: A Journal of Classical Education, a national Alcuin Fellow, a Research Fellow with the Institute of Classical Education, and a member of the Academic Advisory Board for the Classic Learning Test. He is also a co-organizer of 100daysofDante.com. Dr. Williams previously served as the Departmental Lecturer in Theology and Christian Ethics at the University of Oxford (UK), where he also directed oxfordconversations.org, a collection of curated video interviews with Christian academics and scholars at Oxford. Prior to that, he taught theology, philosophy, and literature at Cair Paravel Latin School (Topeka, KS). He holds an MPhil and DPhil in Christian Ethics from the University of Oxford (UK); and a MA and ThM in Systematic and Historical Theology from Regent College (Vancouver, Canada). Dr. Williams’ academic work focuses on virtue ethics, Dante’s Comedy, the just war tradition, and the long tradition of classical education, especially in the work of Hugh of St. Victor, Philip Melanchthon, and John Henry Newman.
Ravi Jain
Ravi Scott Jain graduated from Davidson College with a BA and interests in physics, ancient Greek, and international political economy. He worked at various churches, received an MA from Reformed Theological Seminary, and later earned a graduate certificate in mathematics from the University of Central Florida. He began teaching calculus and physics at the Geneva School in 2003 and since that time has developed an integrated double-period class called “The Scientific Revolution.” In this class, the students read primary sources such as Galileo and Newton in order to recapitulate the narrative of discovery while preserving the mathematical and scientific rigor expected of a college-level treatment. He also teaches AP Calculus BC, in which the students strive to discover and demonstrate the “most beautiful theorem in mathematics,” and AP Physics C, in which the students encounter Faraday, Maxwell, and Einstein. Ravi has given more than 100 talks and workshops throughout the country and overseas on topics related to education, theology, mathematics, and science. He has served as a deacon in his church and is an Alcuin fellow. He has two boys, Judah and Xavier. After the duties of the week have been discharged (often by about 8:53 on Saturday night), in the few hours that remain, he enjoys spending time with his wife Kelley Anne, whom he met in Japan, as well as with the rest of his family and friends.
He also earned a graduate certificate in mathematics from the University of Central Florida and is studying for his Doctorate in Theology at Oxford University in Oriel College where he is the graduate scholar in science and religion.
David Goodwin
David Goodwin earned an M.B.A. and traveled the world with a fortune 500 tech company before he quit to invest in classical Christian education, even though, at the time, he had no school-aged children.
He is a founding board member and was headmaster of The Ambrose School in Boise, Idaho for 13 years, and is currently president of the Association of Classical Christian Schools and editor of The Classical Difference magazine. Over 100,000 copies of his work “Discover Classical Christian Education” are in print and he has appeared in publications like The Federalist and Townhall. His most recent work is with Pete Hegseth on Battle for the American Mind. Dave and his wife, Stormy, have three children, all of whom were classically educated.
Noah Tyler
As the Chief Financial Officer at Classic Learning Test (CLT), Noah Tyler serves as the bedrock of our executive team, overseeing a multifaceted role that spans guiding business strategy, directing psychometric efforts, leading policy initiatives, and managing vital HR functions. His comprehensive understanding of assessment's inner workings, coupled with a deep commitment to restoring education to its foundations, underscores his impact.
Noah's academic foundation is rooted in economics, having earned both a Bachelor's degree from Grove City College and a Master's degree from George Mason University. Following graduate school he became a student of assessment, ultimately winning awards as a top instructor for SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, and LSAT courses at Kaplan Test Prep Inc.
Beyond his professional achievements, Noah cherishes his urban homeschool life in downtown Baltimore, where he, his wife, and their four children thrive. Their shared love for this vibrant lifestyle reflects Noah's dedication to nurturing both his family and the educational aspirations that lay at the core of CLT's mission.
Timothy Dernlan
Dr. Timothy Dernlan earned a B.A. in Education and Communication at Purdue University, an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership at Lehigh University, and an Ed.D. in Leadership Studies at Ashland University. Dernlan minored in Christian Theology during his doctoral studies, focused his dissertation on the spiritual formation of students attending K-12 Christian schools, and was named the Ashland University Outstanding Graduate of 2013. He is an experienced Christian school leader and has served in administration to advance the mission of Tall Oaks Classical School, Reach Christian Schools, and Bayshore Christian School.
Much of his early life was shaped by the sport of wrestling. He won several state and national titles, earned NCAA All-American honors at Purdue University, and competed at the final Olympic Trials in 2000 and 2004. Dernlan coached dozens of NCAA All-Americans at Purdue, Ohio State, Penn State, Lehigh, and Ashland University and was named 2008 NCAA Region II Coach-of-the-Year before turning his focus to Christian education. He has experience teaching theater, math, rhetoric, physical education, personal finance, communication, leadership, and systematic theology in a variety of educational institutions ranging from public, charter, Christian, classical Christian, and college. He and his wife also homeschooled their children for four years.
Dernlan is a visionary leader and is passionate about advancing Christian community and culture through education.
Grant Horner
Professor Grant Horner’s academic specialty is the literature, theology and philosophy of the Renaissance and Reformation, with primary concentration in Milton, Shakespeare, Erasmus, Luther, Calvin and late sixteenth and seventeenth century intellectual and cultural history. His research and writing has focused on Christian Humanism in the Reformation, particularly the complex relationship between developing Reformed thought and Classical Graeco-Roman pagan mythology and philosophy. At Duke University he was taught and mentored by Stanley Fish, America’s leading literary theorist. He has worked on the citation of classical Greek and Latin authorities by Renaissance writers, published on theology and the arts, and recently completed a full-length scholarly work on John Milton and John Calvin. His first book, “Meaning at the Movies” on film and theology (Crossway, 2010) was an Amazon bestseller and nominated for Book of the Year in Christianity and Culture by the Book Retailers Association. His second book, “John Milton, Classical Learning, and the Progress of Virtue” was published by Classical Academic Press in 2015. He has also published two shorter books on Dracula and on Paradise Lost. He is currently at work on his seventh book, about the building of the magnificent dome of the cathedral in Florence in the early 1400s by the Renaissance genius Filippo Brunelleschi.
Professor Horner is the Founder and Director of The Master’s University in Italy Program, a six-week summer intensive study abroad semester. Students live in an ancient villa in the city that was the birthplace of the modern world in the Renaissance: beautiful Florence. We also spend time in Rome and Venice. A variety of Humanities courses revolve around the Renaissance Humanist’s question ‘quid est homo?’—‘what is man?’ We examine the basis for studying the Humanities and explore what it means to be human.
He has taught at the University of Alabama and UNC-Chapel Hill, and was appointed Hudson Strode Scholar in Renaissance Studies (1994-96) at UA. At Master’s, Professor Horner teaches courses on Medieval and Renaissance literature, Film Studies, Shakespeare, Milton, John Calvin, Poetry and Poetics, Comedy, Critical Theory, Western Art History, Epic, Classical Christian Humanism, and Classical Latin. He is an Alcuin Fellow in the Society for Classical Learning. He holds an appointment as Visiting Assistant Professor of Latin at Fuller Seminary, and works in early printed books and rare manuscripts at The Huntington Library. Horner designed the original Humanities program in the Rhetoric School at Trinity Classical Academy, the fastest-growing classical school in the nation, and served as Chair for several years. He continues to mentor the teachers at Trinity.
Prof. Horner speaks regularly in a number of venues including national radio, particularly on current theological trends, philosophy and popular culture. He has spoken to Berkeley students on Christianity and popular culture, was invited to give the endowed Kegel Lecture at Caltech on representations of human consciousness in philosophy and art, and speaks regularly on the radio and television with over 100 appearances to date.
He and his wife, Joanne, have three children and several grandchildren, and they live in Santa Clarita, California.