Ouachita Stories

magazine

Faculty profile: Mary Chung & Carlos Feller

Developing more than skills

May 15, 2019 - Jon Merryman

It has been quite a journey – spanning three continents – that has brought Drs. Mary Chung and Carlos Feller to Ouachita.

Mary grew up in South Korea – the daughter of a pastor. While Mary dreamed of someday being a missionary, her father passed away when she was young, and her mother continued toward their family dream of serving as missionaries. Moving to the Dominican Republic at just 10 years old, Mary embarked on this church planting mission journey with her mother.

“While serving in the Dominican Republic, my mom lost her funding from our sending agency, forcing her to rely on God to provide,” Mary said. “And He always has. I’ve seen many miracles of His provision on the mission field and have continued to see the Lord’s leading and provision every step of my life.”

Meanwhile, 10,000 miles from South Korea and a few thousand miles from the Dominican Republic, Carlos grew up in Brazil. Mary devoted herself to studying piano from an early age, and Carlos began studying the flute at age 16. They each went on to study at conservatories in the Dominican Republic and Brazil.

While working on their master’s degrees at the University of Southern Mississippi, Mary and Carlos met, married a couple of years later and began teaching at universities in Oklahoma. In 2017, Mary and Carlos followed God’s leading and joined the faculty at Ouachita.

“We love being at Ouachita,” Carlos shared. “At some other institutions you aren’t able to freely share your faith. We believe we should be educating the whole person in these most formative years of students’ lives. I want my students to look back and remember that their time at Ouachita and with me as their professor is where they were able to look at themselves, their lives, their spiritual lives and grow – remembering so much more than a class or a textbook.”

“And that is meaningful work!” Mary chimed in. “We want to not just teach them information or musical skills but have students over for meals in our home, invest in their lives, build relationships that last and help them build the confidence they need to succeed in their lives and careers.”

“Drs. Mary Chung and Carlos Feller have brought an air of excitement and joy to the Division of Music,” said Dr. Gary Gerber, dean of the School of Fine Arts. “Their talents are at the highest level of any professional musician. They are eager to share their love for music and music education with our students and are a tremendous addition to the music faculty and to Ouachita.”

Photo by Andy Henderson