The John F. Zeller Papers project aims to produce a collection of the correspondence John F. Zeller III, a member of the Bucknell Class of 1941, professor, administrator, and ultimately acting president of the University. In 1962 Professor Zeller donated these letters that he wrote home to his family during his periods of military service in World War II and Korea. Over 500 of the letters are housed in the Bucknell Special Collections and University Archives.
With the support of Professor Zeller's family, University Archivist Susan Falciani Maldonado is leading a collaborative group of Bucknell students, staff, alumni, and community members to transcribe and encode the correspondence and celebrate this influential Bucknellian.
Beginning with his correspondence during Basic Training and Officer Candidate School in 1942-3. the project will eventually include letters from Zeller's time in Field Artillery School, Italy, Camp Rucker and Camp Polk, and his journey from San Francisco to the 38th Parallel and back.
We hope you'll enjoy reading Professor Zeller's Papers. If you are interested in participating, please feel free to contact us at scua@bucknell.edu.
John F. Zeller III (Class of 1941) was a part of Bucknell University for 68 of his 91 years.
He earned a bachelor's and master's degree in political science from Bucknell and was a charter member of Bucknell's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa before serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. He then earned his law degree at the University of Pennsylvania before serving in the Korean War, for which he earned a Bronze Star.
John returned to Bucknell after Korea to teach, but by virtue of his leadership skills was soon appointed to the administration and promoted to vice president for business and fiscal affairs. Later, he simultaneously served as general counsel. He served as acting president in 1984.
During his long years of service he made numerous contributions to the excellence of Bucknell, including:
- Leadership in overseeing the development of literally dozens of buildings on campus
- Strengthening the relationship between Bucknell and the local community
- Helping to increase the endowment by 20-fold to more than $100 million, including Bucknell's first fully endowed faculty chair
John retired in 1986, but he and his wife Martha have continued to be active members of the Bucknell family. In fact, John always enjoyed participating in the annual recognition of the Zeller Award, which recognizes a member of the support staff who demonstrates consistent excellence in the conduct of his or her responsibilities.
As an alumnus and administrative leader, John dedicated his time, wisdom and expertise to ensuring the excellence of a Bucknell University education for generations of students. John's colleagues called him "creative and innovative," "wise," "witty," "generous" and "compassionate." They also described him as a "moral model" for students, faculty and administrative colleagues. John's dedication to the University for more than six decades earned him the nickname "Mr. Bucknell."
