Raised in
Yakima, Washington, he took his undergraduate degree from
Reed College and studied history at St. John's College,
Oxford University on a
Rhodes scholarship. Before joining B.U., Westling taught at Centre College in
Kentucky, Reed College, the
University of California, Irvine, and at the
University of California, Los Angeles. He was a
Freedom Rider. In 1963, his participation in a
sit-in in southern
Virginia landed him several days in jail. In 1996, he was chosen to succeed Silber, who became Chancellor of the university after a 25-year tenure as president. Westling's tenure came to an end in July 2002, when he resigned the presidency to return to teaching and research as a professor of History and Humanities. Silber stepped down as chancellor and reassumed the presidency on an interim basis until
Aram Chobanian was appointed president
ad interim in October 2003. During his tenure, he was instrumental in bringing
B.B. King and
Bob Dylan to Boston University campus. According to Richard Towle, a former BU senior vice president, Westling, as president, had a "special focus on student-oriented programs," leading to the development and commissioning of various student centers, dormitories, and
Agganis Arena. Moreover, says Towle, as provost under John Silber, he played a pivotal role in the recruitment of four
Nobel Prize winners to the faculty. After a career spanning 46 years, Westling died on January 15, 2021, at the age of 78. Beyond his tenure as president and provost, he was remembered as a professor within Boston University's Department of History and as an avid
motorcyclist. He left behind three children, Emma, Matthew, and Andrew, all graduates of Boston University. == Guckenberger v. Boston University ==