In 1954, a committee was first formed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church to plan a Lutheran college in California. Five churches served on the committee, dubbed the California Lutheran Education Foundation, which still owns the university. Richard Pederson, son of Scandinavian immigrants, donated 130 acres of farmland for the university in 1957. In 1959, the college was officially incorporated, with Orville Dahl, Ed. D. instituted as the first president. The college opened to its first incoming class in September 1961, and was accredited by the Western Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in March 1962. Dahl served as president until 1962, bringing the university's first football coach, Robert Shoup, to the campus in his final year.