Cal VanderWerf: Anchor of Hope

Calvin VanderWerf was the most transformative president in the history of Hope College, a small liberal-arts institution in Holland, Michigan. Cal VanderWerf: Anchor of Hope is the biography of the man as he encountered the College at crossroads in the turbulent 1960's. During the seven short years Cal was president, Hope dealt with war, race, generational conflicts, church influence, and political agitation. Against enormous odds, he caused Hope college to reach for, and many ways particularly in the sciences achieve, its highest potential. Calvin VanderWerf's foundational training was as an organic chemist, and he was the first Hope administrator with a scientific background. Cal VanderWerf: Anchor of Hope also provides a comprehensive look, from documents of the day, at the way the VanderWerfs guided Hope College into a future nearly overwhelmed by scientific discovery.