Dr. Robert S. Zimmer

Robert Spitzer Zimmer (1924-2009) was the founding president of three community colleges in the United States. Allegany Community College in Cumberland, Maryland was founded in 1961. He founded Kankakee Community College in Kankakee, Illinois, in 1967 and Passaic County Community College in Paterson, New Jersey in 1971. Following his retirement from PCCC, he became an active reserve in the US Air Force where he was instrumental in the founding and accreditation of the Community College of the Air Force.
Early life
Zimmer was born at the family home in West Seneca, New York to Clara Christine and J. William Zimmer on April 28, 1924. His father was a railroad mechanic for the Erie Railroad. He attended West Seneca High School in West Seneca, NY and graduated in 1942. He had one brother (Martin Thieroff Zimmer) and two sisters (Alberta Zimmer Newton and Catherine Zimmer Williams). He and his brother were active Boy Scouts and he earned the rank of Life Scout. Upon graduation, he joined the Enlisted Reserve Corps and enrolled at Brockport State Teachers College (NY). He excelled in school and starred on the basketball team. Zimmer was called to active duty in April, 1943.
The war years
Zimmer was mustered in at Fort Niagara and was assigned to the Coastal Artillery and shipped to Camp McQuade, California for basic training, after which he applied for Officer Candidate School (OCS). Instead of OCS, he was advised to join a program called the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) where he’d study engineering for 18 months and then go into OCS. He was shipped to the University of Oregon for the ASTP program in August, 1943.

In March, 1944 the ASTP program had been scrapped in preparation for the European invasion. Zimmer, along with 1200 others were assigned to the 11th Armored Division which was training at Camp Cooke, California. There PFC Zimmer was assigned to 1st Platoon, Company A, 22nd Tank Battalion as a bow gunner and assistant driver of tank #4, the Alabama.
In he was shipped to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey and, after a short and emotional furlough back home in Buffalo, boarded the USS Samaria in New York City on September 27, 1944, headed for England. The 11th Armored Division trained in southern England for 6 weeks and crossed the English Channel landing in Cherbourg at 1600 on December 18, 1944.
After two days of arming and fueling the 11th embarked on a forced march to join General George Patton’s 3rd Army in the rescue of Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge. Following a month of heavy fighting, the 11th met up with the 4th Infantry in Houffalize to officially end the Bulge. The 3rd Army then raced across Germany, crossing the Rhine on March 28 and continued into Czechoslovakia and Austria. On May 5 they discovered and liberated Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria.
Recipient of American Campaign Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Good Conduct Medal—Army, European-Africa-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal
Graduate education
Upon his return to the States on January 5, Zimmer returned to Brockport where he graduated in 1947. He married his high school sweetheart, June Busch in 1948, became a Mason with his brother and enrolled in the graduate school of the University of Chicago, where he received M.A. (1949) and Ph.D. (1950) degrees in Student Personnel Work and Higher Education. In 1951 he joined the US Air Force Reserves as a Captain and became a Shriner with Medinah Shrine in Chicago.
Lt: 1951
Capt: 1956
Major: 1961
Lt. Col 1970
Colonel 1976
College administration
Herzel Junior College, Chicago
Registrar, 1950-1959

Montgomery Junior College, Takoma Park, MD,
Dean of the Evening School, 1960-61
College president
Allegany Community College
In July, 1961 he was recruited by the Allegany County Board of Education to form a community college in Cumberland, Maryland. The college was opened for business in September and graduated its first class in 1963. In three short months, students, faculty and staff were recruited; curricula developed; classrooms renovated and a college was formed. ACC went on to receive Middle State Accreditation in record time.
Kankakee Community College
Kankakee Community College was organized in October 1966 by a group of citizens concerned with providing a post-secondary educational resource for the people of the Kankakee area. The Board of Trustees contacted Zimmer and he started the work of building another college in August, 1967. The college offered its first classes in September 1968. Since that date, it has served as an educational, vocational, and recreational center for residents of Community College District 520, an area encompassing all or part of Kankakee, Iroquois, Ford, Grundy, Livingston, and Will counties and serving a population of approximately 150,000.
Passaic County Community College
In 1972, Zimmer was contacted to found yet another college, this time in Paterson, New Jersey where he started Passaic County Community College. It is an accredited, co-educational, two-year, public, community college located in Passaic County, New Jersey. The school's main campus is located in Paterson.
Active military
In 1976, Zimmer was called to active duty with the United States Air Force. Having served in the USAF Reserves since graduating from Chicago, he had advanced to the rank of Colonel. He worked toward the accreditation of the Community College of the Air Force from his base at the Pentagon through 1979. He was then transferred to The National War College as a Planning and Programming Officer at Ft. Leslie J. McNair in Washington, DC., where he remained until his retirement in 1981. Recipient of Defense Meritorious Medal, Air Force Longevity Service Award.
Community involvement
Despite his responsibilities with various colleges and the USAF, he found time to spend on various civic organizations throughout his career. While in Cumberland, he was President of the Cumberland Lions Club and served as Chairman of their Annual Sports Car Races in 1966. He became a 32nd degree Mason and joined the Cumberland Valley Scottish Rite and Ali Ghan Shrine Club, where he advanced to Chief Rabban prior to moving to Kankakee, Illinois in 1967. He was also a deacon with LaVale Methodist Church and Board Member for Explorer Post 10. He was a member of the Cumberland Bowhunters and Square Dance Club.
Retirement
He remained in the DC area following his retirement and remained active in Corkran United Methodist Church in Temple Hills. In 1990 he and his wife, June, moved to Williamsburg, Virginia where they lived until he died in October, 2009. In Williamsburg, he was active with Williamsburg United Methodist Church, Williamsburg Masonic Lodge, Khedive Shrine Club and the John Randolph Society. He was the founder of The Romeos (Retired Old Men Eating Out) in 1995 and attended weekly breakfast meetings until 2009.
Death
Zimmer died on October 26, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Orchard Park, NY.

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