V. Raymond Edman, 1900-1967

Born May 9, 1900, in Chicago, V. Raymond Edman was a missionary, educator, author, and college president. After earning a degree from Boston University, Edman served as a missionary to the Quichua people in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador from 1923 to 1928. A health crisis forced the Edmans to leave the mission field and return to the United States, where, in 1936 he joined the faculty of Wheaton College as a history professor. In 1940, he was appointed the fourth president of Wheaton College.

Although retired from the mission field, Edman remained a strong supporter and advocate for global missions, especially to South America. He was visiting missionaries in Peru in 1956, when he heard the first reports about the “Auca incident.” The tragic deaths of Wheaton alumni, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, and Nate Saint at the hands of the Waorani deeply impacted Edman. Along with Clyde Taylor and other Christian leaders, Edman established the Five Missionary Martyrs Fund to raise money for the education of the men’s nine children. On Wheaton’s campus Edman commissioned dormitories and an athletic field to be named after Elliot, Saint, and McCully.

In April 1958, Edman also baptized Dayuma at the Wheaton Evangelical Free Church during her months-long visit to the United States with Rachel Saint. He often wrote and spoke about the significance of the missionaries and their sacrificial deaths and called American evangelicals to share his perception of the men as modern Christian martyrs. President Edman died in 1967 while preaching at a Wheaton College chapel service.