Samuel Sutherland; Former President of Biola University

Samuel H. Sutherland, the former president of Biola University who moved its campus from Downtown Los Angeles to La Mirada in the 1950s and was fondly remembered as “Mr. Biola,” has died. He was 93.

Sutherland died Jan. 21 in his retirement home in Wheaton, Ill., university officials announced this week.

A memorial service is scheduled for Monday at 9:30 a.m. at Chase Gymnasium on the Biola campus in La Mirada.

A graduate of Occidental College and Princeton Theological Seminary, Sutherland began his career as pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church of Highland Park.

He joined the Bible Institute of Los Angeles Inc. in 1936 and became dean in 1942. when the college had 400 students. Biola is an acronym for the institute, which was organized at the turn of the century to train Christian missionaries, ministers and music directors.

Sutherland saw enrollment triple during his 18-year presidency, and it later reached the 2,000 he had predicted.

He became president in 1952 and quickly began negotiations to purchase 50 acres of land in La Mirada, then little more than olive groves. In 1959, the school moved from its small quarters at 6th and Hope streets near the Los Angeles Central Library to its new campus.

Sutherland served on the La Mirada City Council and encouraged other school faculty and staff to serve their new city, including history professor David Peters who was elected mayor in 1979.

In addition to his university and civic duties, Sutherland helped found the American Assn. of Bible Colleges and served as its first president. He headed the Lockman Foundation set up to edit the New American Standard Bible.