Tim Shuman Reflects on 15 Years at ACSI

If Tim Shuman had a highlight reel from his 15 years working with ACSI, many of the snapshots would be from the school visits and international conferences he helped plan.

“It was never my favorite thing to sit in the office, but to be out at the schools and conferences, face to face with the people we serve,” Shuman said. “That's always what filled my tank.”

That’s why as Shuman hands off the title of Senior Director of the International Division to his successor, Dr. Angela Patterson, it’s poetic that he does so at the final conference he will help plan at ACSI, the 2025 International Christian Educator Conference (ICEC).

Shuman will be honored in a ceremony during the conference at the host site, Dalat International School in Penang, Malaysia. He feels that the transition is coming at an exciting time.

“I've never been more proud of ACSI than I am today,” Shuman said. “Angela is joining at an amazing moment in the work of ACSI. The improvements, the changes, and the new initiatives are stunning to me.”

Prior to joining ACSI in 2010, Shuman served for 24 years at Black Forest Academy (BFA), an ACSI-accredited international boarding school in Germany.

During Shuman’s time at BFA, the school started hosting the same ACSI conferences that he would later help organize.

“The conferences were really formative in my own leadership and my work,” he said. “Everything that ACSI was saying, doing, and selling, I was on board with it.”

Towards the end of his tenure at BFA, Shuman participated in several accreditation and consulting trips and served on ACSI's Board of Directors for three years, gaining a front row seat to the inner workings of ACSI.

Around that time, he heard of an opportunity to serve full time with ACSI.

“That was a bit of a dream come true," Shuman said. “What they meant to me, the way they were pouring into my life personally, I wanted to continue to do that and to encourage other leaders.” ACSI’s international conferences, namely the ICEC and International School Leaders Conference (ISLC), were at the top of Shuman’s priority list in how he wanted to make an impact on international Christian educators.

“There were always two goals that I had for each conference,” Shuman said. “First, that educators would have spiritual encouragement and a reminder of their call in Christ, and second, to provide vital professional development that gives them tools that they can take back to their schools.”

Combined with the meaningful accreditation trips and consulting that Shuman has offered to international schools, he’s been well-traveled.

“Having 1.5 million miles with United Airlines is crazy to think about,” Shuman said. “I’m just a kid from the suburbs of Akron, Ohio. What an amazing ride this has been.”

Reflecting on his tenure with ACSI, Shuman feels a sense of honor and blessing.

“I can't believe I get to partner in God's work,” Shuman said. “It’s almost unbelievable that I've gotten to do this these 15 years.”

Now, he’s happy to support Patterson, who started with ACSI on August 1 to overlap for a few months with her predecessor.

"I'm truly proud of ACSI today and I'm excited about Angela,” Shuman said. “The new ideas and the new energy that she's going to bring to the International School Division, and working under Dr. Gavin Brettenny and the initiatives that he's bringing together, I can't wait to sit back and watch and rejoice at what comes to be and how schools will be better served."

As for what’s next personally, Shuman isn’t in a rush to solidify what life will look like in 2026 and beyond. “I am looking forward to listening for the Lord's leading for the next adventure he has for me,” Shuman said. “I'm just full of gratitude. It's just been an amazing privilege, and I'm excited for the future.”