Francis Joseph Mullin
Encyclopedia
Francis Joseph Mullin also often known as F.J. Mullin or Joe Mullin, was the seventh president of Shimer College
.
From 1936 to 1938 Mullin was on the faculty of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Mullin served as a professor of medicine at the University of Chicago
from 1939 to 1951, as well as serving as dean of students there for part of this time. He also served as dean of the faculties and professor of physiology at Chicago Medical School
from 1951 to 1954.
In 1954 he assumed the presidency of Shimer College
, then located in Mount Carroll, Illinois
. Shimer had adopted a four-year Great Books
curriculum in 1950. Mullin sought to build "a community of scholars where intellectual inquiry is the highest value". The college at the time had extremely low levels of fundraising, due in part to its previous history as a junior college
. Mullin tripled fundraising to approximately $150,000 per year, but nonetheless the college faced insolvency in the summer of 1956. By recruiting General Motors
executive Nelson Dezendorf as a donor and trustee, Mullin was able to keep the college open.
In 1966, an internal struggle broke out within Shimer that subsequently became known as the "Grotesque Internecine Struggle". A group of dissident faculty, led initially by Dean David W. Weiser, complained that Mullin did not share the governance of the college sufficiently. With the support of the Board, Mullin prevailed, but this led to the loss of a large number of students and faculty. Mullin tendered his resignation in 1967, and retired in August 1968.
Mullin and his wife, Alma Hill Mullin, had two sons. One of them was Mark Mullin, who authored a memoir including reminiscences of his father, entitled The Headmaster's Run (ISBN 1578866545).
Shimer College
Shimer College is a very small, private, undergraduate liberal arts college in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Founded by Frances Wood Shimer in 1853 in the frontier town of Mt. Carroll, Illinois, it was a women's school for most of its first century. It joined with the University of...
.
From 1936 to 1938 Mullin was on the faculty of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Mullin served as a professor of medicine at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
from 1939 to 1951, as well as serving as dean of students there for part of this time. He also served as dean of the faculties and professor of physiology at Chicago Medical School
Chicago Medical School
The Chicago Medical School is one of the graduate schools of Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. Founded in 1912, The Chicago Medical School has nearly a 100 year history of a broadly-based socially constructive admission process relatively unlike that of other medical colleges....
from 1951 to 1954.
In 1954 he assumed the presidency of Shimer College
Shimer College
Shimer College is a very small, private, undergraduate liberal arts college in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Founded by Frances Wood Shimer in 1853 in the frontier town of Mt. Carroll, Illinois, it was a women's school for most of its first century. It joined with the University of...
, then located in Mount Carroll, Illinois
Mount Carroll, Illinois
Mount Carroll is a city in Carroll County, Illinois, United States-History:Shimer College was established in Mt. Carroll in 1853, but mounting debts forced a move to Waukegan, Illinois in 1979. The campus now is home to several organizations, most notably the Campbell Center for Historic...
. Shimer had adopted a four-year Great Books
Great Books
Great Books refers primarily to a group of books that tradition, and various institutions and authorities, have regarded as constituting or best expressing the foundations of Western culture ; derivatively the term also refers to a curriculum or method of education based around a list of such books...
curriculum in 1950. Mullin sought to build "a community of scholars where intellectual inquiry is the highest value". The college at the time had extremely low levels of fundraising, due in part to its previous history as a junior college
Junior college
The term junior college refers to different educational institutions in different countries.-India:In India, most states provide schooling through 12th grade...
. Mullin tripled fundraising to approximately $150,000 per year, but nonetheless the college faced insolvency in the summer of 1956. By recruiting General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
executive Nelson Dezendorf as a donor and trustee, Mullin was able to keep the college open.
In 1966, an internal struggle broke out within Shimer that subsequently became known as the "Grotesque Internecine Struggle". A group of dissident faculty, led initially by Dean David W. Weiser, complained that Mullin did not share the governance of the college sufficiently. With the support of the Board, Mullin prevailed, but this led to the loss of a large number of students and faculty. Mullin tendered his resignation in 1967, and retired in August 1968.
Mullin and his wife, Alma Hill Mullin, had two sons. One of them was Mark Mullin, who authored a memoir including reminiscences of his father, entitled The Headmaster's Run (ISBN 1578866545).
See also
- History of Shimer CollegeHistory of Shimer CollegeThe history of Shimer College begins in 1853, and has involved a series of crises and profound changes. Because of this, the college is often symbolized by a phoenix which is reborn from its own ashes...