George Whitaker, A.M., D.D, was born on May 14, 1836 in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1861 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and received a Master of Arts from Wesleyan in 1864. In 1888 Whitaker received a Doctor of Divinity from Fort Worth University, Texas. Succeeding Dr. Thomas Van Scoy at Willamette University, Whitaker served as president for two years from the fall of 1891 until September 1893 when he resigned over a disagreement relating to the administration of the University. After leaving Willamette, Whitaker resumed pastoral duties until 1899 when he was hired as president of Portland University, where he helped work out a merger with Willamette University as the Portland school closed in 1900. Returning to Massachusetts, Whitaker served as pastor in Cambridge, Lowell, Linden and Orient Heights. He was active in civic affairs and also served as the librarian of the New England Methodist Historical Society. George Whitaker died in 1917.
From the guide to the Office of the President: George Whitaker records, 1890-1893, (Willamette University Archives and Special Collections)
