Houghton president emeritus Dan Chamberlain speaking with students outside.

President Daniel R. Chamberlain

Honoring 30 Years of Leadership

Serving the Houghton University community from 1976-2006

For 30 years, students at Houghton University, then Houghton College, were equipped as scholar-servants and charged to lead and labor in a changing world. That call came from Daniel R. Chamberlain, the institution’s long-time president, who not only pursued excellence in scholarship and service himself but modeled it for the thousands of students who attended the institution during his tenure. On May 31, 2024, Chamberlain, one of Houghton’s most dedicated scholar-servants, passed away in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. He was 91.

President Emeritus Chamberlain smiling in suite.

Chamberlain’s presidency, which lasted from 1976-2006, was marked by numerous enhancements to academic life, significant improvements to the physical campus, meaningful opportunities for spiritual growth, and a steadfast commitment to serving the Kingdom of God and the greater world.

Dr. Chamberlain’s leadership at Houghton was not only lengthy, but God-honoring, visionary and transformational. I am thankful for the opportunities I had to spend time with him during my visits to Brooksville, FL. From our time together I gained a better understanding of the history and context of the university I now serve, and an even deeper appreciation for who Dr. Chamberlain was as a person and the quality of leadership he provided for Houghton. Houghton is a better and stronger university because of his leadership.

Wayne D. Lewis, Jr., President of Houghton University

With steadfast consistency, Chamberlain exhibited daily what it means to be a committed follower of Christ. With wisdom and grace, he guided the campus community through great crises—including the death of six students in 1981 and the September 11 attacks—and pointed to the promises God has for those who believe in Him. And with good humor and a joyful laugh, he led the celebration of important moments in the life of the College, including the centennial celebration in 1983.

We grieve, along with the Chamberlain family and the Brooksville community, the passing of Dr. Daniel Chamberlain, one of the great statesmen of the Wesleyan Church and leaders of Christian higher education. We in the Houghton University community have been the special beneficiaries of his Christian character, his professional expertise, his faithfulness and his passion to extend the national and global impact of this institution over a thirty-year season of its history.  We are grateful to God and to his family for Dr. Chamberlain and his irreplaceable role in the Houghton Story and in the Kingdom.

Shirley A. Mullen ’76, President Emerita of Houghton University

 

His excellence as an educator, his wisdom as a leader and his faithfulness as a Christian made an indelible influence on three decades of Houghton graduates who are now serving their families, churches, businesses and communities across the globe.

President emeritus Dan Chamberlain with his wife Joyce.

The Journey to Houghton

Chamberlain was one of six children of Ray and Marianne Chamberlain, who were missionaries in the Caribbean. He spent most of his childhood in Jamaica and surrounding areas and earned his secondary education through correspondence courses. When it was time to go to college, Chamberlain returned to the United States and enrolled at Upland College in California, where he met his wife, Joyce Books, when they were first-year students.

“She is my best friend, my most honest critic, and an incredible partner,” Chamberlain often said of Joyce.

After graduating from college in 1953, Chamberlain taught English and history at Holiness Evangelistic Institute in El Monte, CA, now known as Western Pilgrim College. His leadership was evident early, and he was soon appointed dean of the institution. At the same time, he earned his master's degree from California State University at Los Angeles.

He then took a job teaching in Pasadena City Schools before he returned to Upland College, his alma mater, to teach and serve as its acting president. He was then called to the East Coast to become the assistant university dean for university-wide activities in the State University of New York system. In 1967, he earned his doctoral degree from the University of Southern California.

Leaders at Messiah College became aware of Chamberlain’s talent and appointed him the academic dean in 1968. He served in that role for eight years before Houghton College invited the Chamberlains to lead and serve its community in June 1976.

Chamberlain started his 30 years as president of Houghton by sharing these words:

Let me begin this address as I begin my tenure—with the recognition that because we are building on the rock, this task is bigger than any one of us. Indeed, it is bigger than all of us… It is our intention to build on the one true foundation, which is Christ Jesus, and by any standard, that is the ‘rock that is higher than I.’ Houghton is God’s college, and our first responsibility is to Him.

Enriching and Expanding Academic Life

Chamberlain, whose name is on one of the primary academic buildings of Houghton’s campus, was instrumental in championing and refining the core curriculum of the liberal arts experience, including a transformational redesign of integrative studies.

During Chamberlain’s tenure, Houghton created the first-year honors program in London, which became a distinctive aspect of the College. Since 1997, hundreds of first-year students have spent their second semesters exploring the city and surrounding areas, expanding their worldview and immersing themselves as global citizens.

Knowing the long history of Houghton’s involvement in Sierra Leone and other African nations, Chamberlain also helped create the unique and life-changing study-abroad experience in Tanzania. Started by Jon Arensen and continued by Eli Knapp, this program carried on a legacy of exploring, engaging and embedding students into cultures to better understand neighbors around the world.

Houghton president emeritus Dan Chamberlain speaking with students outside.

Chamberlain’s vision for impacting the world through education and faith also included neighbors closer to home. He saw the need and ability for Houghton to serve non-traditional students as a beacon in the Buffalo community, and in 1991, Houghton started the Program for Accelerating College Education (PACE), an adult-degree-completion program for adult students.

On campus, Chamberlain and his parents established and funded the Chamberlain Lecture Series, a speaker series designed to keep the challenge of missions before the Houghton community. Notable speakers who visited Houghton as part of this series include: David Howard, Don Bray, Joanne Shetler, Stephan Bauman, Mic Veach and, most recently, Ryan Klejment-Lavin.

Within the greater community of higher education, he served on the Middle States Commission on Higher Education evaluating the accreditation standards of institutions in Pennsylvania and New Jersey; chaired the Christian College Consortium Dean’s Council; chaired the Council of Mennonite College Deans; served as president of Phi Delta Kappa; was a lifetime member of the American Association of Higher Education; and was a member of the Eastern Association of College Deans and the American Council of Academic Deans.

“Dan was the epitome of what a president should be,” said the late Tim Fuller ’79, who served as the vice president of enrollment in Chamberlain’s administration for more than 15 years. “He was an eager absorber of everything. He was well read, asked good questions and listened. He was always pulling people together to share in success.”

Front entrance to Chamberlain building in summertime.

Daniel R. and Joyce F. Chamberlain Center

Dedicated in honor of Dan and Joyce Chamberlain on October 5, 2005.

Chamberlain’s three decades of leadership at Houghton provided significant improvements to the physical campus. Buildings were demolished, renovated, moved and constructed to provide the pertinent facilities and maintain the beauty of the campus.

Nielsen Physical Education Center was one of the first buildings to be constructed during Chamberlain’s tenure. At the cornerstone laying service in 1980, Chamberlain talked about how in the Bible and in our own lives, stones hold significance. That day, he shared that the stones of Houghton are a way to “commemorate the past with gratitude, celebrate the present with joy and contemplate the future with confidence.” In that way, they “represent the faithfulness of God, the efforts of dedicated people, and evidence of a dynamic institution serving a living God.”

South Hall, now Rothenbuhler Hall, and the Stevens Art Studio were added in the late 1980s. And in 1987, in preparation for the construction of a new academic building, historic Fancher Hall was moved from its original site and spun 90 degrees. On a day that only brought rain, 16 dollies and hydraulic rams were used to move and pivot the building. At 835 tons, Fancher Hall was the heaviest building moved in the United States that year and landed a photo on the cover of The House and Building Mover magazine.

Other buildings were soon added to campus, including the Center for the Arts, the Margaret Bush Greenhouse, the president’s home, the Randall, Leonard, Hazlett and Perkins townhouses, and the flats. The equestrian lesson barn was built in 1994 and the Alumni Athletic Complex was enhanced—including an all-weather outdoor track; soccer, auxiliary soccer and field hockey fields, and tennis courts. The ropes course was added and the townhouses at the West Seneca campus were also constructed. Renovations to nearly every other building on campus also occurred.

Loving and Leading the Community

The Chamberlains were integral and charismatic members of the Houghton community. They ate dinner with students once a week in the cafeteria; they participated in small group Bible studies throughout the community; and they hosted faculty and staff pancake breakfasts.

Chamberlain’s intense competitiveness was evident to those he bested on the racquetball court, and it was on display as he cheered on every Highlander sports team with great enthusiasm. His competitive spirit was complemented by his wife’s quick wit and gracious hospitality. Many memories were made enjoying a meal, a game of dominoes or a rousing evening of laughter around their table.

As the Chamberlains immersed themselves as part of the community, they also helped cultivate the faith of the students who came to Houghton. The Chamberlains were deeply invested in helping students and the community deepen their faith and reliance on Jesus Christ. He and his wife prayed for students regularly; he brought notable speakers to campus for Christian Life Emphasis Week; and he encouraged student-led praise and worship, especially the creation of Sunday evening Koinonia; and he regularly spoke in chapel services—challenging, edifying and encouraging students in their Christian walk.

Houghton president emeritus Dan Chamberlain serving meals to students.

Leaving his family and going to college was a moment of transition emblazoned on Chamberlain’s memory, and it is what inspired him to develop the Freshman Dedication Service at Houghton. Each year, in a special service with new students and their families, Chamberlain told incoming students about his transition to college—memorably having only two pairs of ill-fitting pants—and assured them that, in the midst of change and uncertainty, the Lord would be faithful in helping them find their footing.

And in one of the darkest moments of the institution’s history, Chamberlain was a voice of comfort, compassion and hope. After six students lost their lives in a car accident during Homecoming 1981, he spoke about each one by name. Then he reminded those who were mourning that “the purpose of life is to glorify God… To those who know Christ, death means life everlasting. Separation here means reunion forever.”

Chamberlain had a distinct pursuit of excellence in his scholarship and professional endeavors for the specific purpose of being used as a servant obedient to the Lord. Within the body of Christ, Chamberlain, an ordained Wesleyan minister, served as chair of the Christian Holiness Association Men’s Commission, was a member of the Brethren in Christ Church Publication Board and Editorial Council, was the California District Youth president, and served as pastor of Rosemead Wesleyan Church. He was a longtime member of the Houghton Wesleyan Church and even filled the pulpit on occasion.

President Emeritus Chamberlain cheering at a sports event from the sidelines.

Thank you, President Chamberlain, for valuing us as athletes by setting a great example, by providing institutional leadership which paved the way for building a quality athletics program, and by your very personal efforts to support Houghton teams. During 30 seasons of Houghton sports, you have impacted the lives of nearly a thousand Houghton athletes who have experienced the challenge of being excellent in the field of play for the sake of Christ. You have encouraged us to love the Lord our God with all of who we are—body, mind, heart and soul—and we are better people for having been Houghton athletes.  Thank you, President Chamberlain.

Connie Finney '78

After Houghton

At his final State of the College address in 2005, Chamberlain took a moment to remind the Houghton community what he had said for 30 years.

This is not my college, nor is it yours. This is God’s college. That does not diminish our responsibility, rather it increases it. We have the joyous privilege and the awesome task of serving as stewards for this college that belongs to God. Let us tend this vineyard faithfully until our Lord calls or comes.

 

When Chamberlain retired, he was one of the longest-serving college and university presidents in the nation.

“His long tenure is quite remarkable in an age when the average college president serves just seven years,” Ian Lennox '51, chair of the board of trustees during Chamberlain’s tenure, told the Buffalo News in 2006. “He has compiled an extraordinary record of accomplishments and transformation of the college landscape.”

“Houghton has been blessed by Dr. Chamberlain’s commitment. He has been a living example of the Houghton ideal of a scholar-servant,” said Rev. Karl Eastlack '79, vice chair of the board of trustees in 2006.

When he retired, Chamberlain served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Wesleyan Bible Conference Association, a preaching assistant at the Brooksville Wesleyan Church, and a member of the board of World Hope International. He helped support the Mile High Pines Camp and Retreat Center in San Bernardino National Forest.

Chamberlain remained an active advocate for Houghton. Now that he has been called home, many can rejoice in and remember all that he meant to this community while he was tending the vineyard faithfully. What he sowed in faith, we reap with thanksgiving.

Chamberlain is survived by his wife of 72 years, Joyce Books Chamberlain; their seven children, D. Rodney (Anne Findlay), Mark (Beth Fry), Anthony (Ruthanne Lee), Priscilla (Daniel Hollander), Aletha (Philip Huffman), Cynthia (Farel Becker), Marianne (Jonathan Pinter) and Denna Ho (Michael Fan); 25 grandchildren and as many great-grandchildren; siblings; multiple cousins; dear friends; and thousands of Houghton College alumni.

President emeritus Dan Chamberlain on the steps at Houghton.
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