Arland F. Christ-Janer (January 22, 1922 – November 8, 2008) was an academic who served as the president of a number of educational institutions, including as president of the

College Entrance Examination Board The College Board is an American nonprofit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an association of colleges, it runs a ...

and as the sixth president of

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

. Christ-Janer was born in Nebraska and received his Bachelor of Arts at

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. Founded in 1866, it had 2,105 undergraduate students and 269 faculty members in fall 2016. The 200-acre main campus is between Northfield and the 800-acre Cowling ...

. He also earned degrees at

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

and the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

. During World War II he served in the Pacific as a bombardier in the 39th Bomb Group (VH), a U.S.

Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

B29 squadron.Alt URL
/ref> At the beginning of his career he was an administrator for

Lake Erie College Lake Erie College is a private liberal arts college in Painesville, Ohio. Founded in 1856 as a female seminary, the college converted to a coeducational institution in 1985. As of the 2016–2017 academic year, the total enrollment was 1,177 stud ...

and later Saint John's College. 1962 marked his transfer to

Cornell College Cornell College is a private college in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Originally the Iowa Conference Seminary, the school was founded in 1853 by George Bryant Bowman. Four years later, in 1857, the name was changed to Cornell College, in honor of iron ty ...

as its president. During his time as president of Boston University, from 1967 to 1970, the school was facing much political turmoil from the Students for a Democratic Society and one of the schools African American organizations. At the time of Christ-Janer's inauguration both organizations protested with a

sit-in A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...

in the presidential office. Although Christ-Janer made attempts to quell the turmoil at the school, ultimately his efforts proved to be unsuccessful and he resigned in July 1970. Even though 1970 marked a difficult conclusion to his time at Boston University, Christ-Janer was to be appointed as College Entrance Examination Board's president in the same year. In 1973 he moved to Florida where he was inaugurated as the president of New College located in

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...

. He relocated to Missouri in 1975 where he served as the president of Stephens College. His final academic position was held at the Ringling College of Art and Design (latter, Ringling School of Design) where he was inaugurated as president in 1984. Under Christ-Janer's presidency, the school's endowment was raised to the highest level in its history, the campus was renovated and the school began offering four year degrees. He retired in 1996 and served on the board of the Ringling Art Museum until his death in 2008.

Published works

Memories of Arland F. Christ Janer

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20121021015436/http://www.yale.edu/divinity/notes/081114/notes_081119_about.shtml {{DEFAULTSORT:Christ-Janer, Arland F. 1922 births 2008 deaths People from Seward County, Nebraska Carleton College alumni Presidents of Boston University University of Chicago alumni Yale Divinity School alumni United States Army Air Forces soldiers New College of Florida faculty Cornell College faculty Stephens College faculty St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) faculty United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II 20th-century American academics