Doctor of Humanities
February 15, 1966
James I. Ling, vice president emeritus of West Virginia Wesleyan, received an honorary doctor of humanities degree at the convocation. Mr. Ling is a native of Saranac Lake, N.Y. He is 22 days older than the college.
Mr. Ling came to Wesleyan as an assistant to the president in 1950 and was elected vice president in 1953. He retired in 1960 but continued to work on a limited schedule until 1964 as a specialist in wills and bequests.
The lifelong Methodist was designated the Buckhannon District layman-of-the-year in 1965 by fellow laymen of the church.
He will be listed in the 1966 edition of Who’s Who in Methodist Churches. His honors have included election to Omicron Delta Kappa, national leadership fraternity.
Mr. Ling came to Wesleyan after more than 35 years in service to the Young Men’s Christian Association, including a three-year term on the organization’s national council. He immediately started a second career in the field of education.
His ten years at Wesleyan saw the erection of five new buildings, a million dollar increase in endowment funds, and increase of West Virginia Methodist Conference support of Wesleyan from $21,000 to $175,000.
At the time of his retirement, the conference was considering raising funds for a new chapel for Wesleyan and a grant of $300,000 from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation had set in motion a move to erect a large campus center.
Mr. Ling held church posts of leadership and responsibility at Methodist churches in East Syracuse, N.Y., East Youngstown, Ohio, Newel, Carbondale,and Pittston, Pa., and Manchester, N.H. during his career with the YMCA.
He was completing work as an area organizer for the Japan International Christian University Foundation in Texas when he received the opportunity to come to Wesleyan after reaching the mandatory retirement age for YMCA workers.
The Ling have four sons, 15 grandchildren and three great grandchildren. The sons are Dr. Stuart Ling, professor of music at Wooster (Ohio) College; Roland, a Dallas, Texas, department store executive; Robert, an industrial engineer in Worcester, Mass., and Charles, U.S. Air Force tech sergeant in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Lings will observe their golden wedding anniversary June 30.
Source:
- Sundial, March 1966
PLM 7/21/18