Reverend Dr. Samuel Valentine Cole, first president of Wheaton College, was one of the most influential figures in the college’s history. He served as a trustee from 1893 to 1925, Secretary of the Board from 1895 to 1908, President of… Read More »
1893 - 1925Samuel Valentine Cole
1925George T. Smart
Upon President’s Cole’s death in 1925, the Board of Trustees had little by way of searching for a successor. To fill the gap, Dr. Rev. George T. Smart undertook the role of Acting President (1925-1926).
1926 - 1944John Edgar Park
The Reverend John Edgar Park (1879-1956) became president in 1926. Wheaton’s growth and vitality during Park’s presidency is particularly noteworthy: student enrollment increased steadily and the building program begun by President Cole continued. J. Edgar Park retired in 1944 at… Read More »
1944 - 1961Alexander H. Meneely
Dartmouth College Professor of History Alexander Howard Meneely (1899-1961) began his 17-year tenure when Dr. Park retired in 1944, faced with leading the College in a period of post-war confusion and rising costs. Enrollment growth allowed Wheaton to expand and… Read More »
1961Elizabeth S. May Named Acting President
Dr. Elizabeth Stoffregen May, a distinguished economist and Dean of the College, was named Acting President upon Dr. Meneely’s unexpected death in 1961.
1962 - 1975William C. H. Prentice
William C.H. Prentice (1915- ), a psychology professor and administrator from Swarthmore College, held the Wheaton presidency from 1962 until 1975, completing the building program necessary to accommodate an enrollment that grew to 1200, and completing Wheaton’s first successful capital… Read More »
1975Alice Frey Emerson Becomes First Female President of Wheaton
In 1975, Wheaton named its first woman president, Alice Frey Emerson, former Dean of Students at the University of Pennsylvania, who served until 1991, completing the Sesquicentennial Campaign (1983-1986), major building renovations and the construction of the new athletic center.… Read More »
1991Hannah Goldberg Appointed Acting President
In 1991, Provost Hannah Goldberg was appointed Acting President by the Board of Trustees. Goldberg served as Acting President until 1992 when Dale Rogers Marshall was inaugurated as Wheaton’s sixth president.
1992 - 2004Dale Rogers Marshall Becomes Sixth President
Dale Rogers Marshall, former Academic Dean at Wellesley College, was inaugurated as Wheaton’s sixth president in 1992. Central to her tenure was the Campaign for Wheaton, successfully concluded in June 2000 with $90 million in support for the college including… Read More »
2004Ronald A. Crutcher Appointed President
Ronald A. Crutcher was named the seventh president of Wheaton College on March 23, 2004. He came from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and professor of music. Since… Read More »
2014Dennis Hanno Becomes Eighth College President
Dennis M. Hanno was named the eighth president of Wheaton College on February 22, 2014. He came to Wheaton from Babson College, where he had served since 2006. Hanno grew up in Glenfield, New York and graduated from Notre Dame… Read More »