He also served as a professor and authored many articles and books, especially regarding Swedish-American history.
He graduated from Bethany College in 1930 and won a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to University of Oxford in England where he received another bachelor's degree and a master's degree from Jesus College, Oxford and then returned to Bethany to teach in 1933.
During this period he also served as a Dean and then President of Wichita State University from 1963 to 1968.
While president, Lindquist was a member of the Urban League board and added African American staff and faculty to the university.
Lindquist continued writing into his retirement and died in 1992 and was buried in the Smoky Hill Cemetery.