Meet the Staff

Ben Colter
Donor Engagement Coordinator

Ben has served in various roles through the years for both profit and nonprofit organizations, from systems engineering to full-time ministry to editor-in-chief in Christian publishing to organizational development and leadership training. He married his sweetheart Mary (Morley ’82) right after graduation; they have two birth children and four adopted children, along with 11 amazing grandchildren. Ben returned to Houghton to join the Office of Advancement in 2014. His favorite part of his role is connecting with our incredible alumni, parents, and other donors and watching how God is working in and through them.

H. “Skip” Lord
National Director of Athletics Engagement

Skip Lord’s heart for student-athletes and coaches has been a hallmark of his 30-years as a coach and administrator in intercollegiate athletics. Lord served as the executive director of intercollegiate athletics at Houghton College from 1994 until 2018, when he transitioned to his current position as national director of athletics engagement in the college’s Office of Advancement. In this position, Lord collaborates with key offices on campus to connect with alumni, parents, friends, and corporate sponsors as well as current and prospective student-athletes. He also serves as a member of the Athletics Advisory Board and provides leadership to the Highlander Club.
 
Under Lord’s direction, the athletics program at Houghton grew to be one of the most respected among small schools in the Northeast. He most recently provided oversight to the college’s growth from ten sports to 18 and their transition into NCAA Division III and the Empire 8 Conference. He also spearheaded a two-year, multi-million-dollar facilities project that included the Kerr-Pegula Field House and baseball and softball stadiums.

Lord has served as first vice president for the Empire 8 Conference and still serves as a member of the NCAA Common Ground Think Tank. During the college’s NAIA membership, he was active in leadership roles on conference, regional and national levels, and was highly involved in the organization’s Champions of Character initiative. He served as a conference commissioner and was elected as chair of NAIA Region IX to represent the region’s 22 schools to the Council of Athletic Administrators at the national level.
 
In 2001 and 2008 Lord was named one of four winners in the NAIA Athletic Director of the Year Award, given by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. He was twice named NAIA Northeast Region Male Administrator of the Year, is a three-time conference administrator of the year, and was named 1999-2000 NAIA Region IX Athletics Director of the Year.
 
Lord also served as Houghton’s women’s basketball head coach for 25 years, recording more than 350 wins and guiding his teams to four NAIA National Tournaments. He was inducted into the college’s Athletics Hall of Honor in 2012.

Dan Noyes
Regional Director of Development

Dan and his wife Shelley (also class of ’93) arrived back in Houghton with their daughter Sadie in 2008. Since graduating from Houghton, he has worked in higher education in residence life, career services, classroom teaching for traditional and adult students, alumni relations, and in his current role as regional director of development in the Office of Advancement. He enjoys telling the current Houghton story to alumni and friends and hearing how Houghton has impacted the lives of students for generations.

Dan has a broad range of interests from sports to literature and enjoys spending time with his aforementioned wife Shelley and daughter Sadie, who started college in the fall of 2020.

John Oden
Executive Director of Advancement Services and Operations

John started working at Houghton in 2008 directly after graduation. John’s initial job in the Office of Advancement focused on completing database work and general office tasks. Over his time at Houghton he has worked his way up to overseeing the alumni and development database and managing many of the operations of the office. John enjoys playing golf and spending time with his family.

Karl Sisson
Vice President for Advancement and External Engagement

Karl Sisson has served at Houghton since 2014. As the vice president for advancement and external engagement, he leads a talented and committed team whose primary goal is to actively engage alumni and friends in the mission and future of Houghton University.

Completed in May 2020, Karl provided effective vision and leadership to Houghton’s largest campaign to date—IMPACT: The Campaign for Greater Houghton—which successfully surpassed its $70 million goal. This comprehensive campaign enabled donors to invest in three key strategic areas: Access and Affordability, enabling a Houghton education to be more accessible and affordable for students; Strategic Campus Enhancement, supporting capital projects vital to Houghton’s future; and Academic and Experiential Investment, supporting curricular and co-curricular work on campus and the expansion of Greater Houghton.

A graduate of Roberts Wesleyan College (Rochester, NY) who also attended Eastern Nazarene College (Quincy, MA), Karl is passionate about a Christian liberal arts education. He is a seasoned development and marketing professional with more than 25 years of Advancement experience.

A native of Gerry, New York (in nearby Chautauqua County), Karl and his wife Laura live in Houghton with their four children where they are actively involved on campus and in the community they love.

Amanda (Shine ’05) Zambrano
Director of Donor Communications | Editor, Houghton Magazine

Amanda has served as in various Office of Advancement roles since January 2017. As a member of the Office of Advancement, it is her primary goal to communicate with the alumni and friends of Houghton University in effective ways that inspire their generosity to support the mission of Houghton University to equip students for tremendous Kingdom impact as scholar-servants.

In addition to working with foundation, government, and corporate partners to garner investment in Houghton University, Amanda manages the formal publications of the Office of Advancement. With a background in instrumental performance and arts administration, Amanda brings more than a decade of grant writing and fundraising experience to the Advancement Team. Her other fundraising areas of interest include legacy giving, event planning, and donor stewardship.

Outside the office, Amanda can be found walking the Houghton Creek with her two boys, reading and discussing books, and occasionally appearing with the Houghton University Symphony. A native of Ohio and a transplant from Indiana, Amanda and her husband Dan now enjoy building community and watching their family thrive in Houghton.