Fast facts

Names and locations

North Central College was founded in 1861 as Plainfield College in Plainfield, Ill. Classes were first held on Nov. 11, 1861. In 1864, the school name changed to North-Western College. The college moved to Naperville in 1870, choosing Naperville over such towns as Hinsdale and South Bend, Ind., because of the generosity of the community, which raised $25,000. Resident Delcar Sleight donated eight acres east of downtown. On May 17, 1870, the cornerstone was laid for Old Main. The name changed in 1926 to North Central College to avoid confusion with Evanston’s Northwestern University.

Presidents

The college has had nine presidents in 150 years: A.A. Smith, 1861-83; H.H. Rassweiler, 1883-88; Herman J. Kiekhoefer, 1889-1910; Lawrence Seager, 1911-16; Edward Rall, 1916-46; Harve Geiger, 1946-60; Arlo Schilling, 1960-75; Gael Swing, 1975-90; and Harold Wilde, 1991-present.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni include James Henry Breasted (1885), Egyptologist and professor; Frederick Lewis Maytag (1873), appliance company founder; John Warne Gates (1872), barbed wire entrepreneur and founder of Texaco; James Nichols (1880), publisher and business professor; Peter Kroehler (1891), furniture and manufacturing company owner; Orrin Tucker (1933), big band leader; Carl Gamertsfelder (1935), nuclear safety expert, present for launches of three of the world’s first four nuclear reactors; Harold and Eva White (both 1935), Naperville Sun editors and publishers; Harold Moser (1938), founder of the Naperville Sun, Moser Lumber and Macom Corp.; Daniel Ruge (1939), White House physician credited with saving President Ronald Reagan’s life after 1981 assassination attempt; Joseph Edward “Ed” Rall (1940), National Institutes of Health researcher, thyroid specialist; Hal Henning (1941), dentist, swim coach, U.S. Olympic Committee member; Roger Hruby (1958), founded chemical company, CFC International Inc.; Mildred Rebstock (1942), scientist who developed synthetic form of the antibiotic Chloromycetin; and Myron W. Wentz (1963), founder of USANA Health Sciences.

Notable visitors

Notable visitors to the college include Helen Keller (1915), Studs Terkel (1958), the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (1960), Henry Kissinger (1963), Gov. James R. Thompson (1986), then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (2005), Madeleine Albright (2009) and Caroline Kennedy (2011).

Artists who have performed in Pfeiffer Hall include the Vienna Boys Choir (1961, 1987), Ramsey Lewis Trio (1968), Stephen Stills (1972), Sha Na Na (1973), Harry Chapin (1974), Steely Dan (1974), Gordon Lightfoot (1974), Linda Ronstadt (1975), Steve Martin (1976), Dizzy Gillespie (1978), Judy Collins (1983), Henry Mancini (1985) and Tony Bennett (1985). Frank Zappa performed in Merner Field House on Nov. 29, 1974.