J. Richard Chase (1930–2010) was the sixth president of Biola University in California from 1970 to 1982 and the sixth President of Wheaton College in Illinois from 1982 to 1993.
J. Richard Chase grew up on a dairy farm in Oxnard, California and graduated from Biola University. Biola President Samuel Sutherland mentored Chase, and Chase married Sutherland's daughter in 1950. He graduated from Biola in 1951 with a degree in theology, and then attended Pepperdine University, where he received a bachelor's and master's degree. Chase graduated with a Ph.D. in speech from Cornell University.[1]
Chase taught at Biola in the speech department while leading a church in Hollywood, before being appointed president of the university in 1970. After serving as President of Biola for twelve years, Chase was appointed as president of Wheaton College in 1982 where he served as president for eleven years, seeking to attract students from around the world and maintain the university's academic standards and biblical values.[2][3] He retired in 1993, succeeded by Duane Litfin.[4][5] Chase's tenure at Wheaton was notable for his fundraising successes[1] but also for a censorship controversy in 1990 where several students were suspended or expelled for publishing an off-color underground newspaper.[6][7][8] After leaving Wheaton's presidency, Chase taught courses at Tyndale Seminary in the Netherlands from 1993 to 2003.[1]
Chase died on August 20, 2010, in Carol Stream, Illinois, after a long battle with dementia and pneumonia.[1]
Chase was married for 59 years to Mary (Sutherland) Chase, and had two children, Kenneth Chase and Jennifer Chase Barnard, and seven grandchildren.[1] Chase was the great-great-nephew of American politician and jurist Salmon P. Chase.[9]
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Samuel H. Sutherland |
President of Biola University 1970–1982 |
Succeeded by |
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | President of Wheaton College 1982–1993 |
Succeeded by |
