Dorothy Shinn Endowed Scholarship

Dorothy Belle Shinn was born in Deaver, Wyoming, in 1925. She graduated from the Deaver school and went on to college, graduating from Eastern Montana College (now Montana State University Billings) in 1950 with her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. Dorothy and her husband, Preston, travelled often, going through the United States, Canada, Mexico and abroad. She took graduate level coursework at the University of Wyoming and the University of California Los Angeles, receiving scholarships and honors at both institutions. Dorothy also took international graduate work aboard the SS Universe, which included six weeks of studying in several Latin American countries. She received grants with Pittsburgh University for work units on Hawaii and Alaska for classroom use. Dorothy obtained a sixth-seventh year graduate level equivalent to a master’s degree. She taught fifth and sixth grades and music in Sheridan, Montana, for two years. Dorothy returned to Wyoming and taught elementary school in Powell for 36 years. She was a well-loved and well-respected teacher and, after her trips abroad, she shared those experiences with her students. Dorothy passed away in February 2015 and generously left a portion of her estate to the MSU Billings Foundation to establish the Dorothy Shinn Scholarship Endowment. Beginning in academic year 2017-2018, elementary educations majors from Wyoming will benefit from Dorothy’s generosity in perpetuity.