Dr. Linnea Lyding is Dean of ACU’s Shelly Roden School of Education and has served at ACU since 2012. Her path to being a role model in higher education started in her youth, as she grew up helping to care for a sister with a severe disability.
“Our family life was different because of Colett’s needs,” she recalled. “We used sign language to communicate and she made odd sounds, and when she would get angry, her signs were fast and furious. When she had seizures in public, people would just glare or move out of our way.”
“That was during a time when people didn’t know much about disabilities,” reflected Dr. Lyding. “Most people steered clear. But my parents saw my sister’s potential and wanted her to live as normal of a life as possible. I believe God placed Colett in our family because He knew what a difference my parents would make in the world for people with disabilities.”
As Colett grew into adulthood, Dr. Lyding’s parents researched opportunities for her to live on her own. When they could not find anything suitable, they started a nonprofit organization to help hearing-impaired and other disabled young adults build life skills which could lead to an independent lifestyle. Their new nonprofit organization purchased townhomes for Colett and many of her disabled friends.
“My sister had amazing abilities, but her limited communication made it hard for others to see them,” stated Dr. Lyding. “My parents’ dedication to Colett and her friends’ well-being shaped my calling and purpose. Through their example, God gave me a heart for helping children build confidence in themselves to become all that He created them to be.”
Dr. Lyding’s own career plan was to teach Early Childhood Special Education, but at least initially, it seemed that God had other ideas. When she graduated from university, teaching jobs were scarce and the only position she could find was teaching Junior High math. While she wouldn’t have chosen that role, it ended up giving her experience working with secondary education students, a skill necessary for her future.
Over time, the principal at the school where she was teaching encouraged her to present at educational conferences. “I was a bit nervous about speaking to groups, so I resisted,” she remembers. But her principal convinced her that she had special knowledge about teaching children who struggled with learning disabilities and encouraged her to share it with others. “Since my passion was to help children be all that God has created them to be, I agreed,” she stated.
“I thought it was a crazy idea . . . I did not want to go back to school. I even asked God to take the idea out of my mind if it was my own, but He didn’t.” Through a divinely orchestrated set of circumstances, Dr. Lyding enrolled in the Doctor of Education in Leadership and Innovation in Teaching program at ASU. “In the program, I could study what I wanted to study (with their guidance), and I was required to do my research at my place of work. This was exactly what I wanted to do,” she recalled.
Dr. Lyding’s faith in Christ played a formative role in shaping her call as an educator, and she joined Arizona Christian University in 2012. She was attracted to ACU because of the opportunity to serve in a place that would allow her to integrate her faith with her passion for mentoring future educators.
“Through my sister Colett, I learned that every child is a child of God. At ACU, I equip graduates who love and care deeply for the children they teach and see those children as God sees them,” she exclaimed.
Dr. Lyding trains her students to transform culture with truth as they teach, fostering classrooms where every child feels valued, supported, and empowered to reach their full potential image-bearers of the God who created them.
A Look Back at Arizona Christian University v. WESD
One year ago, Dr. Lyding played a critical role in ACU’s victory against the Washington Elementary School District (WESD), vindicating the rights of ACU elementary education students to student-teach in the district. As she reflected on the case, Dr. Lyding can see how it helped her show students firsthand how to navigate difficult situations with grace and integrity.
“We knew it wasn’t right for the district to discriminate against our students because of their religious beliefs,” stated Dr. Lyding. “We asked our students to pray, and they did. They saw the importance of not retaliating, and the value of acting honorably in the face of persecution.”
Ultimately, thanks to the prayers of many in the Firestorm family and expert legal representation from Alliance Defending Freedom, the WESD Board capitulated, allowing ACU students back into their classrooms. The district also extended the contract with ACU for 5 years and paid the university’s legal fees.
Since then, ACU education majors have spent the last year serving the elementary students at Washington School District. “We are pleased with the outcome and continue to have a strong relationship with teachers and administrators (many are ACU alumni) within the district,” Dr. Lyding noted.