Identifier
sc.2017.01.12.08.03.01
Creation Date
10-6-1940
Language
English
Original Format
Typed
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
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The Rev. Otto Paul Kretzmann began his productive 28-year presidency of Valparaiso University in 1940, his inspiring inaugural address setting the tone for years to come. 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.