Phi Lea Le ead adede de e in in Ph hilila llan aann nr rorroop Unm LeaderS in PHiL anTHroPy
Virginia Shipman
An Agent of Change Education Professor’s Endowment Reflects a Dedication to Diversity
Credit: Christie Ross
Anyone who doubts that age is a state of mind should have a chat with dr. Virginia shipman. “Humans are always changing,” she declared. “our cells are constantly renewing, and at all ages there are important opportunities.” Indeed, in recent years this octogenarian professor traveled to South Africa and China, studying educational processes and sharing ideas based on her long career as a research psychologist and educator. Virginia’s enthusiasm for promoting cultural and collegial exchange began in childhood, as she was raised in an economically poor but ethnically rich neighborhood in brooklyn, N.Y. “There were few academic opportunities for girls then,” she recalled. “There were no high schools in the district offering college preparation, and I wanted to be a brain surgeon.” A scholarship to a private high school—and an aversion to frog dissection in college—led her to an eventual PhD in clinical psychology. After years of work in family and child development research for the burgeoning federal head start program, Virginia began her UNM tenure in 1986 as chair of the new family studies department at the unM College of education (CoE). “I’m a strong advocate of interdisciplinary cooperation,” she stated. “Family Studies includes psychology, sociology, biology. . . I actually call myself a developmental scientist, because no one discipline can tell you everything about the development of a human being.” Virginia’s philanthropy at UNM reflects some very personal commitments: to Popejoy hall for her love
H Virginia shipman
of live performance; to the unM Libraries in gratitude for the joy reading has given her since childhood; to the unM Cancer Center as a grateful survivor; to Presidential scholars and the Coe dean’s fund to further academic excellence. Her endowment, the Virginia Curran shipman doctoral fellowship in family studies, is awarded to graduate students coming to UNM from out of state, furthering her philosophy that exposure to diverse points of view can open and enrich minds. “We tend to stay with the people we know,” Virginia noted, “and only a small percentage of our local students have traveled very much. This connects them with others who grew up with different ideas and experiences.” Maintaining an active schedule, Virginia still finds the University an exciting place to be. “There is so much we can learn from and teach each other,” she asserted. “I can’t imagine retiring!” 12