J. Richard Chase

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.

Early life and education

J. Richard Chase grew up on a dairy farm in Oxnard, California and attended the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (later 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 on a basketball scholarship, where he received a bachelor's and master's degree. Chase graduated with a Ph.D. in speech from Cornell University in 1960.

Career

In the early 1960s Chase taught at Biola in the speech department while leading a church in Hollywood. He was named vice president of academic affairs in 1965 and was 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 in this role for eleven years, seeking to attract students from around the world and maintain the university's academic standards and biblical values. He retired in 1993, succeeded by Duane Litfin. Chase's tenure at Wheaton was notable for his fundraising successes After leaving Wheaton's presidency, Chase taught courses at Tyndale Seminary in the Netherlands from 1993 to 2003.