Dr. George Olav Bierkoe (July 2, 1895 – April 11, 1979) was co-founder, along with his wife, Dr. Eleanor E. Tupper (1904-1999), of Endicott College

Endicott College

- History :Endicott was founded in 1939 by Eleanor Tupper and her husband, George O. Bierkoe, as a two-year women’s college. The college was issued its first charter by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in that year and graduated its first class in 1941. In 1944, it was approved by the state for...

 in Beverly, Massachusetts

Beverly, Massachusetts

Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 39,343 on , which differs by no more than several hundred from the 39,862 obtained in the 2000 census. A resort, residential and manufacturing community on the North Shore, Beverly includes Beverly Farms and Prides...

. Dr. Bierkoe served as first president of the college from the founding in 1939 until 1971. Founded as a junior college for women, the school is now a co-educational four-year college located on a scenic beach-front campus twenty miles north of Boston. Endicott is known for its emphasis on internships beginning in a student's first year.

Dr. Bierkoe graduated from Muhlenberg College

Muhlenberg College

Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America.- History...

 in 1922 and became a Lutheran minister in 1925. He was the pastor of a congregation in the Bellaire neighborhood of Queens, New York. He received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the University of Cincinnati

University of Cincinnati

The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....

 in 1971.

Bierkoe Hall on the Endicott campus is named for Dr. Bierkoe and Phi Theta Kappa

Phi Theta Kappa

Phi Theta Kappa, also ΦΘΚ or sometimes PTK , is the international honor society of two-year colleges and academic programs, particularly community colleges and junior colleges. It also includes Associate's degree-granting programs offered by four-year colleges...

national honor society for junior colleges awards the George O. Bierkoe Distinguished Member Award to up to 25 students annually.