Kathryn L. Whitaker

Mrs. Kathryn Whitaker was born Kathryn Louise Nordquist on August 25, 1923 in Youngstown, Ohio to Mr. and Mrs. Frank T. Nordquist. Ever passionate about her education, Mrs. Whitaker attended Cleveland College of Arts in Cleveland, Ohio; Spalding College in Louisville, Kentucky; and Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. She led a prolific life, playing expansive roles such as: teacher with First Free Methodist pre-school group; World War II veteran; member of First Christian Church; wife to WKU’s own Journalism Department Head David B. Whitaker, whom she married in November of 1947; and mother to her and David’s three children, Jane Herron, Julie Boca, and David T. Whitaker.

After leading a life focused on education and family, Mrs. Whitaker passed away in July of 1982. To honor her legacy, family and friends established the Kathryn L. Whitaker Scholarship Fund in September of that same year. Through this fund, full-time WKU students within the School of Teacher Education in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences are able to achieve their dreams and the memory of Hilltopper, veteran, and teacher Kathryn Whitaker lives on in perpetuity.