It's "St-OH-ffer", not "St-OFF-er"!

Dr. Stoffer was born in 1896, the second youngest of 9 boys and 5 girls. (wow) When his father passed away a year after his graduation from high school in 1913, he had to finance his college career by selling aluminum ware. It took a lot of work, but when he graduated from Ashland College in 1917, he had money in the bank. Dr. Stoffer graduated from Oberlin College in 1918 and shortly thereafter joined the army. After World War I ended, Stoffer attended the University of Chicago, earning a bachelor of arts degree in 1920, a bachelor of divinity in 1922 and a master of philosophy in 1923.

In 1923, he met and married Frieda E. Price, and they had two children, Robert Price Stoffer and Elizabeth Anne Stoffer. Soon afterwards, Dr. Stoffer became president of the American College at Madura, India, where he served until 1935. He improved the lives of many villagers by establishing several schools in and around Madura. When he returned to the U.S. in 1935, Dr. Stoffer became a highly-sought lecturer on Indian life and culture. He received his Ph.D. the same year.

Dr. Stoffer continued lecturing until he accepted the position of president at Doane College (Crete, Nebraska) in 1937. The school was suffering financial difficulties and needed a strong leader to help it recover, which he acheived in a remarkably short time. In just 4 years, Dr. Stoffer balanced the college's budget and paid all the bills. Additionally, he was able to increase the college's enrollment by 35% and faculty salaries by 40%.

Then, in 1942, when he was 45, he accepted the position of president at Washburn University and became the longest serving president in the university's history. Dr. Stoffer was a talented salesman and was able to dramatically increase the endowment fund from $1 million in 1942 to $5 million in 1961 at the time of his death. Washburn's enrollment increased along with its fortunes, from about 700 students in 1942 to 1200 in 1961. Dr. Stoffer was directly involved in the construction of several buildings on campus, of which only three remain standing: the Memorial Union, Morgan Hall, and Stoffer Science Hall.