Corban University history

At a meeting in April 1946, a motion was made for purchase of the property of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Oakland, California, for the sum of $37,500.

An offer was made, and by the fall of 1956 classes began on the El Cerrito, California campus for 103 students.

In 1957-58, with enrollment at 128, the largest department continued to be missions, while the second largest was the pastoral department.

On July 15, 1969, administrators used $5,000 from the President’s Club as a down payment for the new 100-acre campus in Salem, Oregon. (The down payment figure was adopted as the school’s new address: 5000 Deer Park Drive.) The sale was personally signed by then Governor Tom McCall.

The school shortened the name to Western Baptist College in 1973.

The school shortened its name to Western Baptist College in 1978.

Reno Hoff became the president of the institution in 1999, replacing David Miller.

Corban received a $2.1 million donation in 2001 for a new performing arts center and chapel, the largest donation ever for the school.

In 2004, United States News and World Report ranked the school as the eighth best in the western United States for comprehensive colleges, and ninth the following year.

The college's name was changed from Western Baptist College to Corban College on May 7, 2005, using the word "Corban", a Hebrew word meaning a gift dedicated to God.

As of 2009, the college has an endowment of about $3 million.

In honor of the institution's 75th anniversary, the school became known as Corban University on May 1, 2010.

Doctor Reno Hoff retired as president on June 30, 2013, and was succeeded by Doctor Sheldon Nord, who serves as the university's 10th president.