Headed Resident Education Program : William Kennedy of Chapman Dies at 63

William Kennedy, vice president of resident education at Chapman College, died Friday morning, apparently of a heart attack, a college spokesman said.

Kennedy, 63, was stricken at his home in Orange, spokesman Jerry Perloshon said. Kennedy had been a vice president at the college since 1974 after retiring from the Air Force.

He was responsible for the expansion of the college’s resident education program, which now includes 50 centers throughout the United States, including some on military bases. Recently, he helped open the school’s first international center on the Japanese island of Okinawa, Perloshon said.

A veteran of World War II and the Korean War, Kennedy served as a professor of military science and head of the Air Force ROTC program at Cornell University in New York. He also taught at the University of Alaska.

A native of Aottawa, Ill., Kennedy received his doctorate in natural sciences in 1951 from the University of Illinois.

Chapman President J.T. Smith praised Kennedy as a great influence at the college.

“Bill was an unflappable, always in command with a clear sense of direction and was a sterling friend to everyone. He was deeply beloved and greatly respected by everyone who had the good fortune of knowing him,” Smith said.

Kennedy is survived by his wife, Grace, and four sons and a daughter.

Services will be held at noon Monday at St. Norbert’s Catholic Church in Orange. A memorial service will also be held Oct. 1 at the college.