CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. John S. Kendall, 73, former president of Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn., died July 26. He was diagnosed with leukemia four years ago, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Kendall was the 12th president of Gustavus Adolphus College, leading his alma mater from 1981-1991. He served as professor of psychology there and was a department chair. Gustavus Adolphus College is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
In 1973 Kendall received Gustavus' highest teaching honor, the Edgar M. Carlson Award for Distinguished Teaching. The award stated: "John Kendall has an infectious interest in ideas; he likes stories; he likes his students; he has a zest for life."
During Kendall's presidency, Gustavus became a Phi Beta Kappa institution and received a grant from the F.W. Olin Foundation. The grant funded the building of a new science hall and additional science initiatives, and enhanced the college's reputation for high quality science education, according to a Gustavus Adolphus news release.
Kendall was born in Rockford, Ill., and grew up in Minneapolis. He received a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1949, a master's degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, in 1951, a bachelor of divinity degree from Augustana Theological Seminary, Rock Island, Ill. (now Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago), in 1954 and a doctoral degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1959.
Prior to his career as a college teacher and administrator, Kendall served as pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, Ironwood, Mich., 1955-1957. From 1957 to 1958 he was a research fellow at the Bureau of Institutional Research at the University of Michigan. He was also vice president for academic affairs and a professor of psychology at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D., from 1965-1968.
Kendall was a member of the Minnesota Gerontological Society, the American-Scandinavian Foundation, the American Swedish Institute, the American Museum of Natural History and the Ministerium of the Minnesota Synod of the former Lutheran Church in America.
Kendall was a consulting clinical psychologist for the Minnesota Department of Public Welfare for nearly two decades, a longtime panelist with the National Science Foundation, a member of the board of directors for Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota and a commissioner for the North Central Association (a higher education accrediting body in the Midwest).
Kendall is survived by his wife, Joanne, and three grown children.
The funeral service was held July 30 at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minn.
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