A Central College icon has died.

Dr. Kenneth J. Weller passed away at the age of 96 in Pella on Friday. Weller was the 18th president of Central from 1970 to 1990.

Weller oversaw significant growth in enrollment and the college’s endowment, construction of six new academic buildings, expansion of the international studies program to include England, Wales, the Netherlands, France, Austria, Spain, China and Mexico, and the broadly successful Dutch athletic program with 65 occasions in which teams finished in the top 10 of Division III. In 1988, he was named one of the top 100 college presidents in the nation.

Weller is perhaps most famous for writing the NCAA Division III athletics philosophy, a visionary document in which intercollegiate athletics programs are seen as existing for the benefit of the participants rather than spectators. He held numerous leadership positions within the NCAA, including a term as a vice president in 1984, and was instrumental in the incorporation of women into college athletics.

Weller was also active in charitable causes, including his role as the founding president of the Pella Community Foundation, which has supported other non-profit organizations in the Pella area since 1991.

Memorial services at the Second Reformed Church in Pella are pending, and are being handled by Van Dyk-Duven Funeral Home.