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.
In addition to his university and civic duties, Sutherland helped found the American Assn. of Bible Colleges.
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