Advisory Board

Most Reverend J. Michael Miller, C.S.B.

Archbishop of Vancouver

Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke

Patron – Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Most Reverend James D. Conley

Bishop of Lincoln

Dr. Dominic A. Aquila

University of St. Thomas, Houston

Dr. Janet Smith

Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit

Sr. Mary Anne Zuberbueler, O.P.

Principal, Mary Immaculate School, Farmers Branch

Advisory Board

Most Reverend J. Michael Miller, C.S.B.

Archbishop of Vancouver

Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke

Patron – Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Most Reverend James D. Conley

Bishop of Lincoln

Dr. Dominic A. Aquila

University of St. Thomas, Houston

Dr. Janet Smith

Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit

Sr. Mary Anne Zuberbueler, O.P.

Dean, School of Education, Aquinas College

Michael J. Van Hecke, M.Ed. 
President

Michael is the President and Founder of The Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. He has been a Catholic educator for 30 years, most recently he served as Headmaster of St. Augustine Academy in Ventura for 20 years. He received a B.A. in classical Liberal Arts from Thomas Aquinas College and an M.Ed. in Educational Administration from the University of North Texas. He is President and Publisher of the Catholic Textbook Project, a company producing the first history textbooks specifically for Catholic Schools in nearly 50 years. As a consultant and speaker, Michael loves to share his passion for Catholic liberal education across the country. When not doing that, he enjoys life with his wife doting on grandchildren and tending on their avocado ranch in bucolic Santa Paula, California.

Elisabeth Sullivan
Executive Director

A former journalist, Elisabeth developed her passion for Catholic liberal education while exploring authentic formation in faith and reason for her own children. She joined the Institute in 2010 to advance this vision and train educators in its philosophy and practice. As Executive Director, she develops ICLE’s program content and publications, designs our annual conference, and promotes our mission through speaking engagements across the country. Elisabeth is a CiRCE-Certified Classical Teacher who has taught middle school writing and literature, served on Catholic school boards, and served as director of communications for a liberal arts school in the Catholic tradition. She holds a B.S. in Humanities from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She and her husband live in North Carolina and have three sons.

  Colleen Richards
  Director of School Services

Colleen Richards is ICLE’s Director of School Services, leading our teacher training and school advising efforts around the country. After 17 years of classroom teaching in a variety of Catholic elementary and high schools, she spent eight years as the second headmaster of St. John Bosco Schools in East Rochester, New York. Colleen led the school’s adoption of the St. Jerome Academy Educational Plan, training teachers and growing the school to double its size. In 2014, she led the opening of Chesterton Academy of Rochester as part of the new Chesterton Schools Network, making the institution an option for a complete Catholic education for students from Pre-K through twelfth grade. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Canisius College, a Master’s Degree from the University of Phoenix in Curriculum and Instruction, and holds New York State Teacher Certification.

Dr. Andrew Seeley
Director of Advanced Formation

For more than two decades, Dr. Andrew Seeley has been a Tutor at Thomas Aquinas College in California. Dr. Seeley received a Licentiate from the Pontifical Institute in Medieval Studies (Toronto) and a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from the University of Toronto (1995). He has taught joyfully and extensively in all the areas of a Great Books curriculum. Desiring to share his love of Catholic learning, Dr. Seeley joined the Institute in 2005. He and his wife, Lisa, have six children and seven grandchildren.

Erin Heule
Communications and Program Associate

Erin Heule was first introduced to liberal education as a middle school teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Classical School in Denver, Colorado.  Although she was not the beneficiary of a liberal arts education, she has always felt a strong affinity for the great works of the Western Tradition.  She received a B.A. from Gonzaga University in English Literature in 2014 and became a Certified Classical Teacher through the CiRCE Institute in 2019.  Erin was delighted to join the ICLE team as the Communications and Program Associate in 2020. She continues to enjoy learning more about the great  cultural inheritance of the liberal arts tradition. She lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, John, and three children, Martha, Otto, and Phoebe.

Elisabeth Seeley
Administrative Assistant

Elisabeth has been steeped in Catholic liberal education her whole life. She graduated high school from St. Augustine Academy in Ventura, CA and received her B.A. in classical Liberal Arts from Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, CA. She worked in the Human Resources department at the college for almost a year after graduating. The daughter of our Director of Advanced Formation, Dr. Andrew T. Seeley, she has long been inspired by the dedication of the Institute’s team members and the fruit their work has born. After several years of volunteering with the Institute, she was delighted to join the team in September of 2020.