Our Team
Meet the Spiritual Life team: chat over chai, find community or resources, connect with people, get involved with programs that center on questions of spirituality and meaning, seek spiritual care.
Spiritual Life Team
Tauseef Akbar
Assistant Director, Spiritual Life; Coordinator of Muslim Life
773.702.2484
takbar@uchicago.edu
As Coordinator of Muslim Life, I advise, facilitate, advocate for and support our vibrant Muslim community on campus. As chaplain I also offer spiritual care and counseling to the whole campus community. I joined Spiritual Life in the Fall of 2022, after serving as Chaplain of Muslim and Interfaith Life at Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges. If you have questions about Spiritual and Religious Life or regarding the Muslim community on campus don’t hesitate to reach out to me and/or set up an appointment. I also enjoy discussions around shared interests of religious studies, literature, history, creative writing, graffiti, travel and chess!
Jigna Shah
Associate Dean of Rockefeller Chapel; Director of Spiritual Life
773.834.1885
jigna@uchicago.edu
As Associate Dean and Director of Spiritual Life, I oversee and manage support for religious and spiritual life on campus, including addressing the needs of students of particular traditions, facilitating understanding of and across traditions among other things. A native New Yorker commuting from Plainfield, IL–I joined UChicago in 2005 and the Rockefeller & Spiritual Life team in 2011. I love UChicago’s Shake Day tradition, chai, chats, board games and Netflix binges! Come see me for any of the above or anything else (even coffee!) (Pronouns: she/her).
Alex Barnes
Spiritual Life Program Coordinator
- Favorite Spiritual Life Program: Community Circles
- Coffee or Tea: Tea
- Hometown: Pinehurst, NC
- Bio: Alex is a third-year Master of Divinity student, pursuing ordination in the American Baptist Church, and lover of all things queer.
Charlie Platt
Spiritual Life Program Coordinator, Unaffiliated/Seeking Student Advisor
TBD
Shashank Rao
Spiritual Life Program Coordinator, Hindu Student Advisor
- Favorite Spiritual Life Program: Tea and Zen
- Coffee or Tea: Coffee!
- Hometown: San Ramon, CA
- Fun Fact: I like to learn languages for fun!
Alanna Sereboff
Spiritual Life Program Coordinator
TBD
Elena Gilberston Hall
Yoga Facilitator
- Favorite Spiritual Life Program: Yin Yoga
- Coffee or Tea: Decaf coffee or green tea!
- Hometown: Athens, Georgia
- Fun Fact(s) or a short bio of no more than 30 words: I aim to teach accessible and body neutral yoga! Come as you are and modify as you need.
Sanchit Narayan Kumar
Yoga Facilitator
- Favorite Spiritual Life Program: Yoga and Meditation Offerings
- Coffee or Tea: Hot Chocolate!
- Hometown: Chennai, India
- Fun Fact: I enjoy wildlife photography — I have tracked and photographed 50+ tigers in the Indian Jungles.
Rob Zabel
Meditation & Yoga Facilitator
- Favorite Spiritual Life Program: Tuesday Night Gentle Yoga in beautiful Rockefeller Chapel.
- Coffee or Tea: Tea all day, iced or hot, green black oolong or masala.
- Hometown: Chicago, but I’ve been living in LA for over a decade.
- Fun Fact(s) or a short bio: Rob has an MA in yoga studies and has taught yoga and meditation for over 12 years. Rob used to work in forestry, on organic farms, and as a professional chef before devoting his life to teaching yoga and mindfulness in 2011. He is currently an MA student at UChicago’s divinity school.
Joanna Jiao
TBD
TBD
Spiritual Life Liaisons
Spiritual Life recognizes individuals from particular traditions who serve the campus as a whole, and also works with campus partners from key offices.
Advisors, listed below, work with Spiritual Life and other campus partners to provide support for members of their own and other traditions. They may be clergy or representatives of non-profit organizations, or faculty or community partners who work with students of traditions where no professional advisor exists. Advisors sign and abide by the Ethical Framework for Religious and Spiritual Life.
Spiritual Life Advisors
The Rev. Stacy Alan
Chaplain
salan@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Episcopal/Anglican
Brent House, Canterbury Club
Rabbi Yehudah Auerbach
Rabbi
jlicrabbi@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Orthodox Jewish
Yavneh of Hyde Park, Yavneh on Campus, JLIC
Saba Ayman–Nolley
Advisor
s-ayman-nolley@neiu.edu
Bahá’í
Bahá’í Student Association
Rabbi Yossi Brackman
Rabbi
rabbi@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Jewish
Chabad
Reverend Angie Buchanan
Reverend
revangiebuchanan@uchicago.edu
Pagan Animist
Earth Traditions / University of Chicago Pagans
Rev. Eric Flood, DMin
Campus Staff Minister
eflood@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Christian, Protestant
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Graduate Christian Fellowship
Rev. Taylor Franchuk
Pastor
taylor@livinghopechicago.org
Confidential Resource
Christian, Presbyterian
Living Hope Church
Jenn George
Advisor
jenn@uchicagohillel.org
Jewish
Hillel
Sophie Grosserode
Seminarian
sgrosserode@uchicago.edu
Christian, Episcopalian
Brent House — The Episcopal Center at the University of Chicago
Jacob D. Judd
Institute Director
jdjudd@uchicago.edu
Christian, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Latter-day Saint Student Association
Herbert Lin
Pastor
herb.lin@livinghopechicago.org
Confidential Resource
Christian, Presbyterian
Living Hope Church
Rev. Dr. Woo Min Lee
lwm0408@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Christian, United Methodist Church
Korean-American United Methodist Campus Ministry
Fr. Philip Maikkula
Priest
pmaikkula@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Christian, Eastern Orthodox
Orthodox Christian Fellowship
Moises Mendez
Campus staff
moisesm@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Christian, Non-denominational
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Christians in Business at Booth and Graduate Christian Fellowship
Rev. David H. Messner
Sr. Minister
messner@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Unitarian Universalist
Unitarian Universalist Campus Ministry, First Unitarian Church
Matthew Moran
Associate Director
mcmoran2@uchicago.edu
Catholic
Catholic Student Association, Catholic Student Association—Grad
Bing Nieh
Pastor
bnieh@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Christian, Protestant/Non-denominational
The University Ministry of Christ Church Chicago (UMC)
Charles Nolley
Advisor
cnolley@uchicago.edu
Bahá’í
Bahá’í Student Association
Catarina Park
Network Staff
catarinapark@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Christian, Southern Baptist, SEND Network
Voyage College Church
David Park
Campus Pastor
davidpark@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Christian, Southern Baptist, SEND Network
Voyage College Church
Jacob Alexander Perkins
Seminarian
perkinsj@uchicago.edu
Christian, The Episcopal Church
Brent House, The Episcopal Center at the University of Chicago
Matthew Podszus
Director
mpodszus@uchicago.edu
Christian, Protestant
Poema, InterVarsity, Veritas Forum
Shashank Rao
Advisor
shashankr@uchicago.edu
Hindu
Hindu Student Sangam
Rabbi Mendel Rapoport
Rabbi
rabbimendel@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Jewish
JGrads Chabad at UChicago
Rabbi Anna Levin Rosen
Rabbi
alrosen@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Jewish
Hillel
Michael Schnabel, PhD
Buddhist Advisor
Facilitator for Chan/Zen Buddhism
mschnabel@uchicago.edu
Chan / Zen Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhistm
UChicago Buddhist Association, Wednesday Chan/Zen Meditation @Rockefeller Chapel
The Rev. Matthew Stuhlmuller
Campus Pastor
mstuhlmuller@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Christian, Lutheran (ELCA)
Lutheran Campus Ministry
Lilith Swygert
Quaker Community
Han Tang
Advisor
htang1003@gmail.com
Christian
Seers of the Divine Revelation
Dr. You Wang
Advisor
wyshine@uchicago.edu
Confucianism
UChicago Confucian Commons
Reverend Andrew M Wawrzyn
Reverend/Chaplain
awaw1972@gmail.com
Confidential Resource
Roman Catholic
Catholic Student Association Graduate Catholic Student Association
Miwa Yasui
Associate Professor
Faculty Advisor for AAIV
myasui@uchicago.edu
Christian
Asian American Intervarsity
Malcolm Yeary
Mindful Breath Community Meditation Facilitator
Mcyeary@uchicago.edu
Buddhist (all)
University of Chicago Buddhist Association
Lixin Zheng
Advisor
zhenglixin0@gmail.com
Buddhism: Mahayana, Chan/Zen
Chan (Zen) Meditation
Āgama Reading Group