April 27, 2004
Dr. Harold Kolenbrander to speak at May 2004 Commencement

Dr. Harold Kolenbrander, President Emeritus of MountUnionCollege in Ohio, will be the keynote speaker at ShimerCollege’s graduation ceremonies on Saturday, May 22, 2004 at 3pm.

Harold Kolenbrander is a very good friend of ShimerCollege. He learned about ShimerCollege first hand in 1995 when he served as Chair of the onsite evaluation team for the North Central Association accreditation review. Of that visit he says, 'I became very interested in the educational opportunities that the College offers its students and was impressed by the dedication and commitment of the faculty and staff.' Recently, he served Shimer again as a much-valued advisor to the Presidential Search Committee.

Harold Kolenbrander’s career in higher education spans the forty years since he received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Iowa in 1964. After teaching chemistry for seven years at Central College in Iowa, he took his first administrative position at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, where he served as assistant to the president and then as Dean of College Planning. In 1975 his alma mater, CentralCollege in Iowa (B.A. in chemistry, 1960), invited him back as College Provost. Then in 1986 Kolenbrander was appointed president of MountUnionCollege in Ohio. Since his retirement in June 2000, he has served as Interim President at AlmaCollege in Michigan and as a Senior Consultant to Academic Search Consultation Service in Washington, D.C.

Asked recently how he regarded his career in higher education, Kolenbrander said, 'I see myself as an educator whose teaching moved from classrooms to administrative offices. I have always seen my goal as providing the best possible education for every student who came to the institutions I had the privilege of serving. I am an unrepentant optimist who is not unmindful of the serious challenges facing higher education.'

The ceremony will be held at 3pm, at the FirstBaptistChurch, 401 N. Genesee Street, Waukegan. The Church is immediately adjacent to the campus. A reception and party will follow the ceremony.