Rienk Bouke Kuiper (January 31, 1886 – April 22, 1966)
at Westminster Theological Seminary was a pastor and professor Systematic Theology. Kuiper served as

President of Calvin College The President of Calvin University is the chief executive officer of the school. The office is not as old as Calvin University, which had no need for such a position when it was founded in 1876. When the ''Theological School of the Christian Refo ...

between 1930 and 1933.

Biography

Kuiper was born in

Garrelsweer Garrelsweer is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is a part of the municipality of Eemsdelta. History The village was first mentioned in 1057 as Gerleuiswert, and means "settled height of Gerlef (person)". Garrelsweer developed on ...

, in the municipality of

Loppersum Loppersum () is a village and former municipality in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Geography Loppersum is located in the province of Groningen in the north of the Netherlands. The former municipality was bord ...

, in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

.Rienk B. Kuiper
at Calvin College His family moved to

Grand Haven, Michigan Grand Haven is a city within the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Ottawa County. Grand Haven is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River, for which it is named. As of the 2010 census, Grand Ha ...

in 1891 when his father accepted a call to be minister of the Christian Reformed congregation there. Kuiper graduated from 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 ...

(A.B., 1907);

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

(A.M., 1908);

Calvin Theological Seminary Calvin Theological Seminary is a private Christian Reformed Church seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is closely tied to Calvin University, though each institution has its own board. History The seminary was founded in 1876 with the purp ...

(diploma, 1911); and

Princeton Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of ...

(B.D., 1912). He served as the pastor of several congregations in West Michigan, including one in the

Reformed Church in America The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a Mainline Protestant, mainline Reformed tradition, Reformed Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 152,317 members. From its beginning in 1628 unti ...

. In 1928 he accepted a one-year appointment to

Westminster Theological Seminary Westminster Theological Seminary is a Protestant theological seminary in the Reformed theological tradition in Glenside, Pennsylvania. It was founded by members of the faculty of Princeton Theological Seminary in 1929 after Princeton chose to t ...

in Philadelphia, as Professor of Systematic Theology, and later served there as a professor for the largest part of his teaching ministry. The

Synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...

of the Christian Reformed Church had persuaded Kuiper to accept the presidency of

Calvin College Calvin University, formerly Calvin College, is a private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reformed (Calvinist) ...

in 1930. During his tenure the economic impacts of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

began to be keenly felt. Although enrollment did not decline, partly because a lack of jobs meant young people pursued education, the downturn forced the college to cut costs and expenses. Faculty voluntarily took pay cuts, as high as 40 percent. Kuiper also found it difficult to mediate the growing differences of opinion among faculty and between faculty and the

Board of Trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

over the school's direction. In 1933 he took up the position of Professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Seminary. Retiring in 1952, he returned to Grand Rapids and then accepted the presidency of

for four years. Kuiper married Marie Janssen in 1911. They had three children: Marietta Rolena Heerema, Dr. Klaudius Kuiper and Kathryn Junia Kuiper, who died at age two.

Works

* ''As to Being Reformed'' * ''Not of the World'' * ''For Whom Did Christ Die?'' * ''God Centered Evangelism'' * ''The Glorious Body of Christ'' * ''While the Bridegroom Tarries: Ten After-the-War Sermons on the Signs of the Times'' (1919)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuiper, Rienk 1886 births 1966 deaths Orthodox Presbyterian Church ministers People from Loppersum Presidents of Calvin University University of Chicago alumni Presidents of Calvinist and Reformed seminaries Dutch emigrants to the United States Westminster Theological Seminary faculty Indiana University alumni Princeton Theological Seminary alumni Calvin Theological Seminary alumni People from Grand Haven, Michigan 20th-century American academics