Jeff Rankin

College Editor & Historian

B.A., St. Lawrence University 

More than six decades of my life have been spent in Monmouth (I attended college in New York, only because my twin brother decided to go to Monmouth College). A writing major, I served as editor of my college newspaper and anticipated a career in journalism, but a temporary stint in advertising led to a job in bank marketing and eventually higher ed marketing and communications. From 1992 until 2015, I was Monmouth’s director of communications. Since then, I have enjoyed a new role as the College’s historian, having lived much of that history myself! I am married to Terri (who has worked at Monmouth longer than I have). We have two grown children and five beautiful granddaughters, who keep us pleasantly busy. In what little spare time I have, I write a weekly local history column and try to maintain a rambling Victorian house, located a block from campus.

It’s perhaps no accident that I ended up becoming editor of Monmouth College Magazine, as I possess a photograph of myself in my crib at six months old, holding a copy of that venerable publication. The picture was taken by my father, Glen Rankin ’43, who still holds the record for the longest punt in Fighting Scots history at 92 yards. He went on to a long career in Monmouth admissions and development, recruiting thousands of students and securing many important gifts. Although I am one of few family members not to have attended Monmouth (brother, Doug; wife, Terri; and daughter, Amanda, are all graduates), our family’s combined years of service to the College totals more than 120.