Albin Carl Bro (1893–1956) was a Christian
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...
and
educator
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...
, United States diplomat, and the fifth president of
Shimer College
Shimer Great Books School ( ) is a Classic_book#University_programs, Great Books college that is part of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Prior to 2017, Shimer was an independent, accredited college on the south side of Chicago, or ...
.
Early life and education
Bro was born in
Prentice, Wisconsin, on September 4, 1893.
In 1917, he graduated as
valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States.
The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...
from
Northland College with a
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
.
He entered into missionary service in China in 1919, working as an educational missionary until 1925, during which time he also served as a school principal.
He then served for a year (1925–1926) as an instructor at the
University of Nanking. According to the United States State Department ''Register'', he subsequently worked as instructor at Northland College from 1927 to 1929, as a field secretary for a religious education association from 1929 to 1931 and a field worker for a pension fund from 1931 to 1932.
From 1932 to 1939, Bro worked in sales for the
University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the university press of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It pu ...
.
He obtained his
Litt.D. degree from the university in 1941.
He came to Frances Shimer Junior College as a product of the University of Chicago under
Robert Maynard Hutchins
Robert Maynard Hutchins (January 17, 1899 – May 14, 1977) was an American educational philosopher. He was the President of the University of Chicago, 5th president (1929–1945) and chancellor (1945–1951) of the University of Chicago, and ear ...
.
Presidency
Bro assumed the presidency of Shimer College in 1939 and served until 1949. He was the first Shimer president directly associated with the University of Chicago. Under his administration, efforts were made to adopt aspects of the general education curriculum from the
College of the University of Chicago
The College of the University of Chicago is the university's sole undergraduate institution and one of its oldest components, emerging contemporaneously with the university's Hyde Park campus in 1892. The College is notable for pioneering a now-w ...
.
In addition, Bro recruited faculty trained at the University of Chicago.
These efforts ultimately bore fruit in the more radical transformation that occurred under Bro's successor,
Aaron Brumbaugh.
Throughout Bro's tenure, Shimer was a women's
junior college
A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...
. It was known as "Frances Shimer Junior College" until 1942 and as "Frances Shimer College" thereafter.
Later life
In 1949 Bro left the presidency of Shimer and was appointed a Foreign Service Reserve officer.
He was assigned to
Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
as a cultural attaché on November 25, 1949.
He was initially granted only a one-year leave of absence from his Shimer position, as the State Department appointment was tentative.
However, Bro continued in this capacity until 1953.
He was succeeded as president of Shimer by
Aaron Brumbaugh of the University of Chicago.
After his diplomatic service was complete, Bro returned to the
Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.
In 1956, Bro co-founded the
Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship, a Spiritualist organization, together with
Arthur Ford and Paul Higgins.
He died of a heart attack shortly thereafter, on March 6, 1956, while walking to church.
Albin Bro was the husband of
Margueritte Harmon Bro, a prolific writer of children's and religious literature. Their son
Harmon Bro later served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Shimer College.
Notes
See also
*
History of Shimer College
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bro, Albin Carl
Presidents of Shimer College
1893 births
1956 deaths
People from Prentice, Wisconsin
Northland College (Wisconsin) alumni
University of Chicago alumni
Academic staff of the University of Nanking
20th-century American academics