Visionary leader, devoted steward, and beloved member of the Fetzer community
“I feel it is a rare privilege to be among the philanthropic organizations that are serving a larger cultural story of hope unfolding in the world.”
— Robert F. Lehman (November 20, 1942-November 2, 2026)
With deep sadness and profound gratitude, we remember Robert F. “Rob” Lehman, our former president, longtime board chair, and president emeritus.
A Visionary Leader
Rob’s relationship with the Institute spanned more than three decades, during which he helped shape not only our mission and direction, but also the spirit of the community we are today. Rob believed deeply in the possibilities of human connection and in the power of love to transform individuals, communities, and the world.
Rob joined the Fetzer Institute in 1989 as president, guiding the organization toward a pioneering exploration of the relationship between mind, body, and spirit. At a time when these ideas were still finding their place in mainstream conversations, he championed groundbreaking research and initiatives in mind-body health, contemplative practice, and human development. Among the most notable expressions of this work was the Institute-funded PBS series Healing and the Mind with Bill Moyers, which went on to receive an Emmy Award.
“Rob Lehman laid the foundation for the Fetzer Institute’s work. He was deeply intellectual, humbly faithful to Spirit, utterly dialogical, and impishly modeled how not to take oneself too seriously. John Fetzer chose wisely. As president and board chair, Rob showed us what authentic, entrepreneurial, and hopeful leadership looks like. We are all so grateful for his life of love and hope,” noted Dan Cardinali, Fetzer Institute board chair.
During his presidency, Rob helped establish the Institute’s first fellows program and brought together leading thinkers and researchers, among them Jon Kabat-Zinn, who was exploring what would become mindfulness-based stress reduction, and Daniel Goleman, whose early work formed the field of social and emotional learning. Having a place to incubate such work and conversations was a vision John Fetzer had, and that Rob realized in 1994, when Seasons, the Institute’s retreat center, opened.
A Devoted Steward
Fueled by their abiding faith in the importance of contemplation, communion, and community, Rob and his wife, Molly Vass Lehman established GilChrist, a public contemplative retreat center in Three Rivers, Michigan, that welcomes people seeking deeper connection and reflection.
GilChrist head caretaker for whole systems design, Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma reflected, “I am so grateful for the many times I got to chat with Rob over the course of the past 14 years: in his office about the vision for GilChrist, or out on the trails when he’d drive down to GilChrist for a hike. He truly respected the wisdom inside each person. His was a brilliance that sought to illuminate, rather than outshine.
“His spirit is present in the vision he and Molly gave life to here in Three Rivers. At GilChrist, retreat guests are invited to prepare their space for the next person — a practice that began in 1995 when Rob and Molly were pouring their own sweat and tears onto the land out of a conviction that every person needs and deserves rest. Whether mowing miles of trails with a push mower or stacking stones for a chapel, they prepared the space for all of us to be in regenerative communion: humans, plants, and animals alike. Rob’s legacy here is a true and beautiful example of what a commitment to an integrated life of mind, body, and spirit can look like in practice for the life of the world.”
Following his presidency, Rob served for many years as chair of the Institute’s board of trustees. In the wake of September 11, 2001, he helped guide the Institute through an important evolution toward a deeper focus on love, forgiveness, and compassion. Working alongside fellow trustees, he helped shape a model of deep engagement in governance, grounding the Institute’s work in shared purpose, reflection, and a commitment to its long-term work.
A Beloved Member of the Fetzer Community
As president emeritus, Rob came into the office regularly up until the weeks before his death. He graced our halls with his steady presence and encouragement. “Rob loved this community. He gave so much of his heart and years of his life to it. He would often come by my office just to tell me how proud he was. He would tell me that John Fetzer would have been so proud of us, too. I always found those moments incredibly touching and encouraging. Here was someone who had known Mr. Fetzer personally, who had helped steward this Institute for so many years, and who continued to find such joy and hope in what we were becoming together,” said Shakiyla Smith-Sengu, vice president of organizational culture.
Rob’s contributions to Fetzer cannot be measured by his leadership roles or institutional accomplishments alone. He had a remarkable ability to make people feel seen and welcomed as part of something much bigger than themselves.
“Rob could see the positive aspects of any situation, delighted in our mutual past, and always looked toward the future,” said Dave Sluyter, former program director and interim president and CEO of the Fetzer Institute. “But what I will miss most is his astute sense of humor. We would always part with a smile.”
The day before he died, Rob was making plans to return to editing a memoir he has been writing about his 50 years exploring the heart of philanthropy.
We will miss Rob dearly. We are profoundly grateful for the life he shared with us, for the vision and care with which he helped shape this Institute, and for the many ways he invited us into what he called “our common work.” His legacy lives on in the people, relationships, and possibilities he helped nurture, and in the enduring invitation to keep love at the center of all we do.
A memorial service will be held on November 19, 2026, at 2 p.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 247 W. Lovell Street, Kalamazoo, Michigan. A reception will follow at the Park Club, 219 W. South Street, Kalamazoo.
Read the family obituary here: Robert Lehman Obituary (11/20/1942 – 11/02/2026) – Kalamazoo, MI – Kalamazoo Gazette
