William Harry Jellema was the founder of Calvin College

Calvin College

Calvin College is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin College is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reformed tradition of Protestantism...

's Philosophy Department.

He taught at Calvin College from 1920 to 1936, transferred to Indiana University

Indiana University

Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...

 and then returned to Calvin from 1948 to 1963. Three of his students were elected President of the American Philosophical Association

American Philosophical Association

The American Philosophical Association is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarly activity in philosophy, to facilitate the professional work...

, and two of his students delivered the Gifford Lectures

Gifford Lectures

The Gifford Lectures were established by the will of Adam Lord Gifford . They were established to "promote and diffuse the study of Natural Theology in the widest sense of the term — in other words, the knowledge of God." The term natural theology as used by Gifford means theology supported...

. Alvin Plantinga

Alvin Plantinga

Alvin Carl Plantinga is an American analytic philosopher and the emeritus John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. He is known for his work in philosophy of religion, epistemology, metaphysics, and Christian apologetics...

 described Jellema as "by all odds…the most gifted teacher of philosophy I have ever encountered.”and “obviously in dead earnest about Christianity; he was also a magnificently thoughtful and reflective Christian.”

The Jellema Lectures at Calvin College are named in his honor. Past Jellema lecturers have included JR Lucas (1987), Richard Swinburne

Richard Swinburne

Richard G. Swinburne is an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford. Over the last 50 years Swinburne has been a very influential proponent of philosophical arguments for the existence of God. His philosophical contributions are primarily in philosophy of religion and...

 (1988) Marilyn McCord Adams

Marilyn McCord Adams

Marilyn McCord Adams is an American philosopher working in philosophy of religion, philosophical theology and medieval philosophy.-Family:Adams is the daughter of William Clark McCord and Wilmah Brown McCord...

 (1992), Sarah Coakley

Sarah Coakley

Sarah Coakley is an Anglican systematic theologian and philosopher of religion with wide interdisciplinary interests.-Life and work:...

 (2001) and Nancey Murphy

Nancey Murphy

Nancey Murphy is Professor of Christian Philosophy at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA. She received the B.A. from Creighton University in 1973, the Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley in 1980, and the Th.D...

(2009). There is also a study room in Calvin College's Hiemenga Hall named the Jellema Room, which contains Jellema's library.