Robert Maynard Hutchins was an American educator who served as president and chancellor of the University of Chicago from 1929 to 1951. He advocated for advancing society's intellectual level and opposed the disproportionate emphasis on practical and technical studies in American universities. Shimer College in Chicago adopted Hutchins' educational plan in 1950, which emphasized a broad liberal arts education through readings in primary sources like the Great Books. Shimer still uses a curriculum based on Hutchins' plan but is no longer affiliated with the University of Chicago.

1. Robert Maynard Hutchins (1899-1977), American educator, born in Brooklyn, New York, and educated at Oberlin College and Yale University. He was dean of the Yale Law School from 1927 to 1929. At Yale he helped to establish the Institute of Human Relations for the study of social sciences. Hutchins was president (1929-1945) of the University of Chicago and then its chancellor (1945-1951). He subsequently served as associate director of the Ford Foundation and then as president of the Fund for the Republic, a research organization in the field of civil liberties. In 1959 he founded the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California.<br />A leading advocate of the advancement of the intellectual level of society, Hutchins opposed what he considered the disproportionate emphasis placed by American universities on practical, scientific, and technical studies; he favored study of the great writings of the past, grammar, logic, rhetoric, and mathematics.<br />Hutchins's books include The Higher Learning in America (1936), The University of Utopia (1953), and The Learning Society (1968).<br />Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.<br />Shimer College, private, coeducational institution in Chicago, Illinois, and one of the few liberal arts colleges in the United States still featuring a curriculum based largely on the so-called Great Books. The school was founded in 1853 in Mount Carroll, Illinois, and became affiliated with the University of Chicago in 1895. Shimer adopted the Hutchins Plan in 1950, named after American educator Robert Maynard Hutchins, who was president and chancellor of the University of Chicago. The Hutchins Plan emphasized a broad liberal arts education and required survey courses in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities before specializing in a specific area of study. The Hutchins Plan also emphasized readings in primary sources, particularly the Great Books, and encouraged the discussion method in classes. Shimer still retains the Hutchins-designed curriculum but is no longer affiliated with the University of Chicago. Shimer features an early-entrant program for high school students. <br />Shimer moved to Waukegan, Illinois, in 1978, and became part of the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago in 2006. Electives are generally taken in the senior year, and a senior thesis is required. The college confers bachelor’s degrees in the liberal arts and the arts and sciences.<br />Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.<br />