Edward B. Lindaman (1920-1982) became president of Whitworth College in 1970 and retired in 1980. He came to Whitworth from North American Rockwell where he was director of programming for the Apollo space project. He was largely self-educated (he held an Associate in Arts degree from Mesabi Junior College, Eveleth, Minnesota, 1938) through extensive reading and study in many fields from theology and philosophy to science, technology and “futuristics.”

His decade of administration saw profound changes in the college including the establishment of the Whitworth Foundation, the Student Life program, the Center for Economic Education, Institute of Ministry, a computer center, Senior Scholars program, cross-cultural student exchanges and the four-one-four calendar. During his administration 11 new buildings were constructed and gifts to the college rose to exceed $1 million per year. The enrollment reached 1900 students. Lindaman is said to have "put the college on the map.” National attention was gained for the college’s Nutrition 1985 program and its human development emphasis. He authored two books on the future: Space: A New Direction for Mankind and Thinking in the Future Tense. Lindaman contracted sleeping sickness while visiting China and died in Shanghai on August 26, 1982.