Robert Spencer Long

Who is Robert Spencer Long?

Robert Spencer Long was a professor of physical science and the tenth president of Shimer College.

Long was born on the north side of Chicago and graduated from Roger C. Sullivan High School in the Rogers Park neighborhood in 1945. After serving three years in the United States Navy, he studied at the University of Chicago, where he obtained a BA in 1951, a master of science in 1955, and a Ph.D. in geochemistry in 1964. He subsequently taught at Nasson College in Maine, New College of Florida, and at the University of Puerto Rico before becoming Dean at Roger Williams College.

Long assumed the position of President of Shimer College on June 3, 1970, shortly after previous president Milburn Akers was killed in car accident. He took control of a college with rapidly dropping enrolment and rising debt, problems which continued to worsen throughout his tenure. Long increased gift income to $300,000 per year, but this was not sufficient to counteract the financial problems. In 1972, Long's son, a student at Shimer, was killed by tainted opium while participating in the Shimer-in-Oxford program in Oxford, England.

In November 1973, the Board of Trustees announced that Shimer would close at the end of the year. Although an emergency fundraising campaign by faculty and students kept the college open, Long resigned at the end of 1973. He publicly stated that the college would be unable to survive.