I've written about Bob Shaffer before,
here
Here are 4 generations of Shaffers:
Here's a communique from Bloomington, Indiana (thanks to LS for sending it along)
Former IU Bloomington dean of students celebrating 100th birthday
A greeting from IU President Michael A. McRobbie will be among the well wishes former dean of students Robert H. Shaffer will receive when he celebrates his 100th birthday Sept. 13.
Members of the IU community who knew Shaffer are also encouraged to send cards via the Dean of Students Office, IMU MO88, 900 E. Seventh St., Bloomington, IN, 47405. The cards will then be forwarded to Shaffer’s home in Florida.
Shaffer’s career at IU encompassed two of the most challenging periods in the university’s history. During the expansion following World War II he served as assistant dean of students. He then served as dean of students throughout the political activism of the 1960s.
Shortly after joining the faculty of the IU School of Business in 1941, Shaffer took leave for wartime service in the U.S. Army. He returned to Bloomington in 1946 to a joint appointment in the schools of business and education and as assistant dean of students, where he stretched university resources to provide a complete framework for campus life during a period when enrollment increased five-fold.
He was appointed dean of students in 1955 and served in that position until 1969, working to maintain an environment where academic values of freedom of speech and diversity of opinion were honored. He also helped build the university’s programs in counseling, veterans’ guidance and international student services, including making a point of knowing by name every international student studying at IU.
Shaffer was also a well-known national leader, serving as president of several national organizations and authoring influential publications. A teacher and mentor, colleague and friend to hundreds of students, he taught in the higher education doctoral program and student personnel master’s program in the School of Education until his retirement in 1981.
IU President John W. Ryan gave him an honorary degree in 1985, and he also received the IU President’s Medal for Excellence.
Shaffer is currently serving as one of the honorary chairs of the School of Education’s Higher Education Student Affairs bicentennial capital campaign effort, along with the other four living deans of students: Tom Schreck, Michael Gordon, Dick McKaig and current dean Pete Goldsmith.