Marcela Chaván, Ph.D. is a higher education international strategist known for building programs, partnerships, and institutions that bridge cultures and borders. She has founded and directed international centers, secured significant funding from government agencies and private donors across the U.S. and Latin America, and led initiatives that meaningfully strengthened student recruitment, retention, and institutional reach.
Her career includes directing the Center for Latin American Leadership, which later
evolved into the Center for Latino Leadership, where she secured major funding for
youth leadership programs abroad, drove substantial gains in student retention and
enrollment, and built lasting partnerships with government ministries in Peru and
Guatemala, faith-based networks, and community organizations across the U.S. and Latin
America.
She went on to found and direct Oral Roberts University's International Center, building
the institution's international student infrastructure from the ground up—designing
orientation programs, cross-cultural training for faculty and staff, and campus-wide
initiatives that shaped a more globally engaged university.
Her strategic work spans continents and sectors: designing leadership curricula for
public administration officials in Central America, advising on entrepreneurship and
donor development across Latin America, and shaping communication strategies for multinational
education initiatives. She combines this on-the-ground program leadership with a scholarly
foundation—a Ph.D. in Intercultural and International Communication—and an early career
in broadcast media and journalism that continues to inform how she builds narratives,
campaigns, and institutional messaging.
Today, as Chair of Communication & Public Affairs and Professor of Communication at
Oral Roberts University, Dr. Chaván leads a team spanning communication, media, political
science, and international relations, forming Spirit-empowered leaders equipped to
engage a changing world. She is deeply rooted in Oklahoma's professional and civic
life, active with the Oklahoma Speech Theatre Communication Association and the Tulsa
Global Alliance, and her work has been recognized with multiple honors for excellence
in communication education and human rights advocacy.
Dr. Chaván is known for turning ambitious ideas into lasting institutions—building
programs, securing the resources to sustain them, and cultivating the partnerships
that carry them forward. At ORU, she brings that same drive to bear, called to advance
the university's mission and to build what will strengthen its reach for generations
to come.