Jay and Janie Kesler, both raised in the South Bend, Indiana, area, became deeply connected to Taylor University, Youth for Christ, and the town of Upland. Jay attended Ball State University from 1953 to 1955 before transferring to Taylor University in 1955 after feeling called to ministry, the same year Janie Smith entered as a freshman. While at Taylor, Jay worked at Miller-Purdue farm and later at Upland Electronics, and he spent weekends preaching in Peru and Logansport. The two married in 1957, and Jay finished his senior year while Janie worked at a local bank. In 1960, Jay began working with Youth for Christ as director of the Indiana-Illinois region, and in 1973 he became president of Youth for Christ. In 1985, he left that role to become the twenty-eighth president of Taylor University, serving until 2000. During his presidency, Taylor saw increased enrollment, major campus growth, a dramatically larger endowment, and stronger academic competitiveness, while Jay became especially remembered for his warmth, humility, humor, memorable sayings, and close relationships with students and employees. Under his leadership, Taylor helped Upland bring back the Depot in 1994, and he worked to connect the university with the wider community through local events and the Community Plunge, in which freshmen serve through volunteer projects. Janie supported Jay throughout his career while raising their family, and she became known for generous hospitality and for visiting Upland's elderly residents at the University Nursing Center. After retiring as Taylor's president in 2000, Jay served as teaching pastor at Upland Community Church from 2003 to 2010 and also served on the boards of Star Financial and Lightrider/Red Barn Ministries. He received the Sagamore of the Wabash award in 2000, earned many other honors and honorary doctoral degrees, wrote nearly thirty books and many articles, and appeared on radio programs broadcast across the country. Jay and Janie chose to live, serve, and retire in Upland out of deep love and respect for rural America and for Upland in particular, where they resided with a family that included three children, nine grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.