Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1968-1974 (Creation)
Extent
President from 1968-1974
Name of creator
Biographical history
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
Gordon C. Bjork (1968-1974) - Linfield’s sixteenth president, born in Seattle in 1935. Bjork’s presidency is noted for having bleak financial conditions and unrest among faculty and students. His time as president aligned with a recession and the Vietnam War, which took a toll on university life. In his first few years, Bjork empowered student voices and hoped to expand Linfield's liberal arts education, but he soon lost support from the board after finances turned. He was left with a “no confidence” vote from faculty - leading to his resignation. After his time at Linfield, Bjork became a distinguished professor of economics at Claremont McKenna College in California. Bjork has a PhD in Economics from the University of Washington, an M.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Oxford, and a B.A. in History from Dartmouth College.