With deep sadness, Fuller Seminary announces the passing of Dr. Donna R. Downes, senior professor of global leadership. Dr. Downes joined Fuller’s faculty in 2007 and served as associate professor of global leadership until 2018, continuing as senior professor. She died in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on December 14, 2025, at the age of 73.
Downes taught courses primarily in Fuller’s Master of Arts in Global Leadership program. Before she joined Fuller’s faculty, she taught for seven years at the School of Baptist Theology in the University of Bucharest. She was a missionary with One Challenge (OC) International in Romania for 12 years, during which time she assisted in the design of a nationwide church census project, edited various publications, organized several city-wide NGO events, and taught in both the seminary and public university contexts. Prior to that, she served for 12 years—also through OC International—as a senior lecturer in communications at Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya. Before going overseas, Downes was a lecturer in the Department of Communications at California State University, Fullerton.
Among Downes’s key areas of research were cross-cultural leadership and the globalization of mission. Her interests also included the training and development of non-Western missionaries, as well as understanding the complexities of intercultural teams and global missions management.
Dr. Mark Hopkins, senior associate professor of leadership and director emeritus of the MA of Global Leadership and Doctor of Intercultural Studies, said, “Dr. Downes was dedicated to excellence and student success.” For 44 years, across three continents, Downes mentored and encouraged students, shaping leaders for enduring service in mission and ministry. Fuller is grateful for her legacy and her faithful witness. She will be dearly missed.