William Allison Shimer (1894-1983) was an American professor of

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

. From 1932 to 1943 he served as the first editor of the

Phi Beta Kappa Society The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ar ...

's literary journal, ''

The American Scholar "The American Scholar" was a speech given by Ralph Waldo Emerson on August 31, 1837, to the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard College at the First Parish in Cambridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was invited to speak in recognition of his gr ...

''. After a stint as president of

Marietta College Marietta College (MC) is a private liberal arts college in Marietta, Ohio. It offers more than 50 undergraduate majors across the arts, sciences, and engineering, as well as Physician Assistant, Psychology, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, an ...

, he spent the latter part of his life teaching in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and working for the World Brotherhood, an international organization founded under the auspices of the

National Conference of Christians and Jews The National Conference for Community and Justice is an American social justice organization focused on fighting biases and promoting understanding between people of different races and cultures. The organization was founded in 1927 as the Natio ...

Early life

Shimer was born in

Freed, West Virginia Freed is an unincorporated community in Calhoun County, West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers cl ...

in 1894, and in 1914 he graduated from the Glenville State Normal School (now

Glenville State College Glenville State University (GSU) is a public college in Glenville, West Virginia. History Glenville State University was founded in 1872 as a branch of West Virginia Normal School. It became known as Glenville State Normal School. It served the ...

) in

Glenville, West Virginia Glenville is a town in and the county seat of Gilmer County, West Virginia, United States, along the Little Kanawha River. The population was 1,128 at the 2020 census. It is the home of Glenville State University. History In the late 1700s a ...

. Continuing his education, he "worked his way through

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

"."Phi Beta Kappa"
''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', June 8, 1940, pp. 11-12 . A 1945 biographical sketch described him as having been a "West Virginia farm boy who dared start Harvard University with only $50 in his pocket, insufficient credits", and went on to complete "four and a half years' work . . . in three years' time while living in an unheated room, living on a dollar's worth of food a week, and working for 25 cents an hour at all kinds of jobs in order to keep alive." In 1917 he received his

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree from Harvard."William Allison Shimer (1945-1947)"

(accessed 2016-05-19). Shimer subsequently received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...

(1922), followed by a second master's degree (1923) and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

(1925) from Harvard,"Shimer, Moyers are Alumni-Of-The-Year"
''The Glenville Mercury'', April 16, 1970. where he wrote his dissertation on "The History and Validity of the Concept of Relativity". He taught philosophy at

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

and at Bucknell, where he also served as dean of the faculty. He met his first wife, Edith Richmond, when he was a Harvard undergraduate and she was a

Radcliffe Radcliffe or Radcliff may refer to: Places * Radcliffe Line, a border between India and Pakistan United Kingdom * Radcliffe, Greater Manchester ** Radcliffe Tower, the remains of a medieval manor house in the town ** Radcliffe tram stop * ...

student; according to a 1940 ''

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'' magazine profile, she was responsible for his being elected to Phi Beta Kappa ''in absentia'' while he was away from Harvard during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Phi Beta Kappa and ''The American Scholar''

In 1930 Shimer accepted the position of executive secretary of the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. He conceived the idea for ''The American Scholar'' as a publication collecting scholarly work for a general audience, and he worked to gain support from a variety of publishers and academics, ultimately receiving approval from the Phi Beta Kappa Senate in September 1931. The first issue was released in January 1932. Shimer was the journal's editor for 12 years.Betsy Saunders
A Note on the History of ''The American Scholar''
in

Hiram Haydn Hiram Collins Haydn (November 3, 1907 – December 2, 1973)Atheneum Press, reissued by

Transaction Publishers Transaction Publishers was a New Jersey-based publishing house that specialized in social science books and journals. It was located on the Livingston Campus of Rutgers University. Transaction was sold to Taylor & Francis in 2016 and merged with ...

2012). pp. xvi-xx. In 1943 he resigned to join the armed services and served as a lieutenant in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, commanding a unit of the

V-12 Navy College Training Program The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II. Between July 1, 1943, and June 30, 1946, more than 125,000 participants were enrolled in 131 colleg ...

."Dr. William Shimer Joins Faculty: Visiting Professor Not Only Good Philosopher, But Also Proficient In Making Knick-Knacks"
'' Ka Leo O Hawaii'', October 10, 1947.

Marietta College

After World War II, Shimer was selected to become president of

in Ohio. Serving during a period of rapid post-war growth, he worked to expand the school's enrollment and physical plant. He hired the distinguished Swiss philosopher Fritz Marti to start a philosophy department at the college. Shimer became embroiled in personal controversy after he was divorced from his first wife, and a year later married Dorothy Blair, the college's dean of women. The controversy was covered in the national media, and ultimately led to the board of trustees' July 1947 decision to force him from office, despite expressions of support from faculty, students, and townspeople.

Hawaii and the World Brotherhood

Shimer and his wife Dorothy moved to Hawaii in 1947, and he taught at the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

."Prof's Wife Thrilled By Racial Harmony of Students"
'' Ka Leo O Hawaii'', January 16, 1948. The Shimers also became involved with the World Brotherhood (later renamed the Council on World Tensions), an international organization founded under the auspices of the

to promote understanding among different religions and cultures. They headed the Asia Pacific chapter of the organization, spent several years in Asia on its behalf, and edited its quarterly journal ''Brotherhood''. Later, Shimer became a professor and librarian at Mauna'olu College, a now-closed community college near Paia,

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...

; he retired in 1968.

Writings

Along with many articles over the years, Shimer wrote a book entitled ''Conscious Clay: From science via philosophy to religion'', published in 1948 by

Charles Scribner's Sons Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawli ...

, in which he argued for the

existence of God The existence of God (or more generally, the existence of deities) is a subject of debate in theology, philosophy of religion and popular culture. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God or deities can be categorized ...

as "the eternal all-inclusive reality".John Gardner
Book notice for ''Conscious Clay''
''

Journal of the American Academy of Religion The ''Journal of the American Academy of Religion'', formerly the ''Journal of Bible and Religion'', is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Religion (AAR). The ''JAAR'' was e ...

'', Volume XVII, Issue 3, p. 211 (1949).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shimer, William Allison 1894 births 1983 deaths People from Calhoun County, West Virginia Glenville State College alumni Harvard University alumni University of Rochester alumni Ohio State University faculty Bucknell University faculty University of Hawaiʻi faculty Marietta College people United States Navy officers