O.P. Kretzmann Collection

The Rev. Otto Paul Kretzmann was president of Valparaiso University from 1940 to 1968. During his administration a new campus was developed, enrollment grew from 400 to 4,000, and the University became nationally recognized.

Before coming to Valpo, O.P., as he was affectionately known, had been executive secretary of the international Lutheran youth organization, the Walther League, for six years. Prior to that, he had served for ten years on the faculty of Concordia Seminary, Springfield, Illinois.

A 1920 graduate of Concordia Collegiate Institute, Bronxville, New York, he received the Master of Sacred Theology degree in 1924 from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and pursued further graduate study at Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Chicago Universities. He was the recipient of ten honorary doctorates. He died on Holy Cross Day, September 14, 1975, in his 75th year.

This collection consists of notes, addresses, sermons, and speeches created between the years 1921 to 1971. These documents are part of a larger collection of O.P. Kretzmann's personal papers and are housed within the Valparaiso University Archives and Special Collections.