Presidents
Richard Chase
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.
Duane Litfin
President from 1993 to 2010
Wheaton College's seventh president, Duane Litfin (Ph.D., Purdue University; D. Phil., Oxford University) served for seventeen years, from 1993 to 2010. During his tenure Wheaton's campus was enhanced by a campus mall, the Sports and Recreation Center, the Todd M. Beamer Student Center, the Marion E. Wade Center, and a new science center. Ten additional endowed academic chairs were established, and a doctoral program in Biblical and Theological Studies was initiated. He gave leadership to revisioning Wheaton's mascot as the Thunder in 2000 and shaping a new Community Covenant, which was adopted in 2003. His widely-read book on Christian higher education, Conceiving the Christian College (2004), imparts critical clarity on foundational issues such as institutional identity, the foundations of Christian thought, and establishing a more congenial academic environment.
Billy Graham Scholarship Program Coordinator
Jane Nelson