Robert E. Shimp

Sherwood Dodge Shankland Award for Encouragement of Teachers (1974)

News Release #1

Ex-OWU Prof Named as President of Texas School

Former Ohio Wesleyan University professor and administrator Robert E. Shimp has been named president of McMurry University in Abilene, Texas.

Shimp, who was honored with OWU’s Sherwood Dodge Shankland Teaching Award in 1973, has most recently been acting president of Millikin University in Decatur, Ill.

The selection was made by an 18-member search committee which included McMurry administrators, students, faculty, and trustees.

McMurry is a four-year liberal arts college, established in 1923. It is owned and operated by the Northwest Texas and New Mexico conferences of the United Methodist Church. It has an average enrollment of 1,500.

Shimp earned both his master’s and doctorate degrees from Ohio State University. His specialty is English history.

With his wife, Lyn, Shimp has three children, and one grandchild. Son Gregory lives in Oceanside, Calif., with his wife Nena and son Geoffrey. Daughter Cecily is a senior at Hanover College in Hanover, Ind. Daughter Jennifer is a high school senior.

In addition to his years at Millikin at OWU, he has served as academic dean and history professor at Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Ky.

News Release #2

Former OWU Prof Named Provost at Millikin

A former Ohio Wesleyan University professor, Robert E. Shimp of Owensboro, Ky., has been named provost/vice president for academic affairs at Millikin University in Decatur, Ill.

President J. Roger Miller said Shimp would begin July 1.

Shimp, academic dean at Kentucky Wesleyan College since 1984, is a graduate of Thiel College and holds master’s and doctor’s degrees from Ohio State University.

Shimp spent 16 years on the OWU history faculty, including four as department chairman.

He served as chairman of the University Governance Committee and Planning Committee.

Shimp also served visiting professorships at Ohio State and the College of the Virgin Islands during his tenure at OWU.