wfn.org | Jonathan Messerli, Former Lutheran College President, Dies

[NEWS@ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

December 3, 2004

Jonathan Messerli, Former Lutheran College President, Dies
04-228-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Dr. Jonathan C. Messerli, former president
of Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa., and Susquehanna
University, Selinsgrove, Pa., died Nov. 28 of apparent heart
attack.
     Messerli, 78, was president of Muhlenberg from 1984 to 1992,
and was president of Susquehanna University from 1977 to 1984.
Muhlenberg and Susquehanna are among the 28 colleges and
universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA).
     A memorial service for Messerli is planned for 2 p.m., Dec.
18 at the Muhlenberg College Chapel.
     During his tenure at Muhlenberg, the $11.8 million Trexler
library was constructed and three of the college's oldest
buildings were renovated.  The college's endowment nearly doubled
to $29 million during Messerli's tenure, and its Institute for
Jewish-Christian Understanding, a study abroad program and the
Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence programs were started, according
to the "Morning Call" newspaper, Allentown.
     At the time of his death, Messerli was a member of the
boards of the Lehigh Valley (Pa.) Historical Society and the
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, one of eight ELCA
seminaries.  He had also served on the boards of the Bethphage
Mission, Omaha, Neb., Special Olympics in Pennsylvania and the
founding board of Lehigh Valley's Ambassador Bank.
     Born in 1926 in Albany, Ore., Messerli earned a bachelor of
science degree in 1947 from Concordia College, River Forest, Ill.
In 1952 he earned a master's degree from Washington University,
St. Louis, and in 1963 he earned a doctorate degree in the
history of American education from Harvard University, Cambridge,
Mass.
     Messerli's professional career was in higher education.