Hudson T. Armerding
Wheaton College President from 1965 to 1982
While a student at Wheaton in the late 30s and early 40s, Hudson T. Armerding (Ph.D., University of Chicago) served as assistant to President Edman. In 1965, he was elected to succeed him. In the years between, he served as a Naval officer in the Pacific, completed graduate studies at the University of Chicago, became ordained to the Christian ministry, and taught history. Returning to his alma mater at a time of national unrest, Armerding helped Wheaton remain committed to intellectual integrity and anchored in historic Christian orthodoxy. The College's strong emphasis today on the integration of faith and learning crystallized during the Armerding years. His era also saw the establishment of special collections in the College's library and archives, the emergence of international out-reach programs, and the appearance of yet another major campus landmark, the Billy Graham Center.
Richard Chase
Wheaton College President from 1982 to 1993
J. Richard Chase (Ph.D., Cornell University) came to Wheaton College in 1982 after serving twelve years as president of Biola. He reinforced Wheaton's commitment to its biblical foundations and oversaw a period of significant growth relating to endowment, buildings, and academic programs. He continually endeavored to attract to the College gifted students who could profit from its rigorous academic objectives and religious underpinnings, and he dedicated much of his eleven-year term to furnishing and providing funding for the administrative structures and procedures that would make the achievement of that goal possible. The College, higher education in general, and numerous national, state, and local organizations benefited from Chase's visionary leadership.
Carolyn Jane Nelson
Billy Graham Scholarship Program Coordinator from 1975-1995
Jane was instrumental in the establishment of the scholarship program in 1975, diligently working to establish policies and procedures to fulfill the original donors’ intent for this unique and on-going scholarship ministry. Her notes are in shorthand, and she typed internal memos on carbon paper. Scholarship applications were completed via “snail mail” and mailgrams and telegrams were used to notify new international scholars. She had a personal caring ministry with scholars during their time at Wheaton until she retired in 1995. She was a faithful woman of prayer, continuing to pray for the scholars and program until a year before her death in 2017. “And the donors kept establishing additional funds honoring people who had made a significant contribution to the Lord’s missionary service and throughout the world. Those number of funds grew – so that is what became the Graham Center scholarship program.” Jane Nelson from an interview later in life