Sandra A. Ham
Multidisciplinary Theologian, Epidemiologist, Web Designer
Continuing Benedict XVI’s Strengthening of the Roman Catholic Church
An Engineer Branching Out
I have over 30 years of experience using secular skills in engineering, statistics, and epidemiology to work in élite organizations in government, industry, and academia, mainly in the health sector.
My niche at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was to analyze national survey data about physical activity and publish scientific reports that used my technical and artistic gifts.
My government work included strategic planning for the field of physicial activity and public health, for the Physical Activity and Health Branch at the CDC, and for the program of Healthy People 2020 national health objectives.
A religious conversion motivated me to break away and add theology by returning to graduate school mid-career for a degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School.
A Multidisciplinary Theologian
Like many engineers and statisticians, I am curious about the driving questions and methods in many academic disciplines. I want to be able to read and interpret the literature of any discipline. To this end, the University of Chicago is fertile ground for cultivating the “life of the mind.”
In Chicago I was a “contemplative with a day job” and an independent scholar. I took advantage of the opportunities to listen to top scientists and scholars all over campus and Hyde Park.
And so, I played in my “sandbox” that included not only biblical studies and theology, but also many of the disciplines at the University of Chicago: classical philosophy, history of Christianity, the history and philosophy of science, culture, ethics, economics, policy, political science, sociology, science and religion, religion and ecology, evolutionary sciences, and world modeling, among others.
The Lumen Christi Institute and Chicago Group Salon offered complementary resources for the Catholic intellectual tradition and modern Protestant theology and science.
Big Questions
I went to the University of Chicago with a set of questions:
- Does God think we should design our societies in a particular way?
- If so, how?
Surely the current, secular design for our human societies is not our evolutionary end. There must be a better way. We’re not paying attention to Divine Wisdom in this area, but we could probably do much better if we did!
I spent 12 years at Chicago, searching in countless lectures, courses, wine and cheese receptions, salons, and in libraries across the entire university for evidence supporting answers to my questions.
Multidisciplinary Consulting for the Church
Today I am an independent consultant with a unique combination of perspective, knowledge, and skills. I choose my projects and clients based on the Roman Catholic Church’s needs for a multidisciplinary theologian to fill particular niches.
I am like a medieval engineer who can design and build a beautiful cathedral, creatively solving problems of its many levels and parts from the foundation to the spire. I have a huge sandbox full of a variety of building materials! All of my diverse—secular and sacred—knowledge and skills belong together under the one roof of God’s house.
I apply my skills and knowledge to continue John Paul II’s and Benedict XVI’s long-term evangelical and ecumenical projects from Vatican II. I want to help to solve big problems whose solutions involve strengthening the Roman Catholic Church for a better future, and facilitating the growth of the Church in the world.
My interests and services are in several locations of the life of a medieval cathedral: local, high level, interior, exterior, past, and future.
Consulting Services 2025
The consulting and independent scholarly areas in which I work are all in need of those rare multidisciplinary scholars, scientists, and engineers.
In 2025, my services and activities bring art, music, and beauty back into the center of my work. Web design is my main focus for the year. I aim to show the spiritual–but–not–religious “Nones” a beautiful “cathedral portal” online for a parish where they might find a home. And I evangelize, offering practical reasons to become Catholic.
- WEB DESIGNER. Designing beautiful, engaging websites for parishes in the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.
- A convert nurtured in the Episcopal Church who loves to share the traditions, marketing the Ordinariate,
- A theologian who interprets tradition, doctrine, and Vatican II documents for the laity,
- An epidemiologist theologian recovering rejected traditional Christian anthropology and psychology for mental health,
- A systems scientist developing new ways to teach the doctrines and traditions of the Roman Catholic faith to minds trained in modern sciences,
- CONSULTANT on high-level planning for new directions for theologians, and
- ENGINEER SCHOLAR making progress on a long-term project to solve problems of civilizational design for the future.
My Catholic solutions for Gen Z’s problems are included in the original content that I write for the websites. My theology, epidemiology, engineering, and religious background are used for boutique Web Design.