Barbara Evans Zimmer

(Dec. 13, 1929-Aug. 15, 2010). Barbara Jean Evans Zimmer was born on December 13, 1929, in Minneapolis, though she lived all over the Midwest. Zimmer chose the University of Chicago for her undergraduate education. which she finished in 1949. That same year she married her husband, Karl Zimmer (b. 1926, d. 2014). The pair had three children.

The family spent the 1950s living in Denmark and the Netherlands, a testament to Zimmer and her husband’s love of travel. They returned to the United States in 1963 and by the next year were settled in Indianapolis. Barbara Zimmer attended Butler University, graduating in 1970 with a master’s degree in history and a secondary school teaching certificate.

Zimmer spent her career teaching and writing. She taught writing and ESL at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), was a writer for the Indiana Department of Education Curriculum Advisory Council, and was an editor of Indiana Schooling for the 21st Century.

In 1994, Zimmer was able to mix her love of teaching and love of travel after being selected through a program of the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI to teach expository writing at a university in Malaysia. Back in the United States, Zimmer held an endowed chair at the Indiana Center for Intercultural Communication at IUPUI

Outside of her professional work, Zimmer was a dedicated volunteer. She was a member of the Indianapolis League of Women Voters, Unigov Task Force, Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee (GIPC), and the Indiana Employment and Training Council. Zimmer served as president for several organizations including the Indiana League and Crossroads Guild, Indianapolis Woman’s Club, and Indiana Women’s History Archives Board. She also served on the boards of the Charles A. Tindley Accelerated School, Dance Kaleidoscope, IUPUI University Library, and Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA).

Through both Zimmer’s professional and volunteer activities, she received several awards. This included the IUPUI Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Don Mobley Award for Associate Faculty, the Distinguished Faculty Service Award of the IUPUI School of Liberal Arts, and the Outstanding Service to the Malaysia Program Award from the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology, and the Sagamore of the Wabash.

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