• B.A. (magna cum laude ), Baldwin Wallace College, 1964
• M.Div. (summa cum laude), Drew Theological School, 1968
• Ph.D. History of Religions, Princeton University, 1972

• Doctor of Humane Letters, Drew University (2003)
• Earth Day Award from the Kentucky Environmental Quality Commission (2003)
• John S. & James L. Knight Foundation Presidential Leadership Grant (1997)
• American Council of Learned Societies (Summer 1981)
  
• Fellow in the Institute for the Advanced Study of Religion, University of Chicago (1980-81)
• McCandless Curriculum Fellowship (1980-81)
• National Endowment for the Humanities (Summer 1975)
• Powers Travel Grant (Spring and Summer 1973)
• Ford Research Grants (Summers 1968 and 1971)
• Princeton University Fellow (1968-70)
• McDaniels Fellow (1967-68)
• Tipple Scholar (1965-66)
• General Motors Scholar (1960-64)

• “John Fee and Berea ’s Early History”
• “Imaginative Christian Literature”
• “Gandhi and King: A Study of Non-Violence”
• “Introduction to World Religions”
• “The Religions of India”
• “Gandhi and King: A Study of Non-Violence”
• “Myth and Ritual”
• “Tribal Religions”
• “Psychology and Religion”

• American Academy of Religion
• Council for the Study of Religion in South India
• Society for the Scientific Study of Religion
• American Association for Higher Education
• American Council on Education
• Annapolis Group
• Appalachian College Association (Executive Committee, 1994-1999)
• Asian University for Women Board of Directors (2002- Present)
• Association of American Colleges and Universities
• Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities (Budget and Finance Committee, 2003-2005)
• Council of Independent Colleges Governing Board (1999-2003)
• Mt. Union College Board of Trustees (2003-Present)
• National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
• Society for the Study of Values in Education
• Southern Universities Conference (Vice President, 2003-04; President 2004-05)
  

• “International Society for Krishna Consciousness,” Encyclopedia of Religion (2nd Edition), edited by Lindsay Jones, Thomson Gale Macmillan Reference, 2005, pp.4521-4524.
• “Berea College: Planning for Retention,” Powerful Partnerships: Independent Colleges Share High-impact Strategies for Low-income Student Success, edited by Richard Ekman, Russell Garth, and John F. Noonan, Lumina Foundation for Education, 2004, pp. 69-77.
• “Foreword,” The Hare Krishna Movement: The Postcharismatic Fate of a Religious Transplant, edited by Edwin F. Bryant and Maria L. Ekstrand. Columbia University, 2004, pp. xv-xix.
• “A Conflict of Cultures: Governance at Liberal Arts Colleges,” Change, Vol. 36, No. 1, January/February 2004, pp. 18-26.
• “Faith, Reason, and ‘Know Thyself’’,” LiberalArtsOnline, Vol. 4, No. 1, January 7, 2004.
• “World Religions,” Encyclopedia of Sociology (2nd Edition), edited by Edgar F. Borgatta and Rhonda Montgomery. New York: Macmillan Reference, 2000.
• “International Society for Krishna Consciousness,” Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, Volume 2, edited by J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2002, pp. 662-663.
• “The Inner Logic of Gandhian Ecology,” Hinduism and Ecology: The Intersection of Earth, Sky, and Water, edited by Christopher Key Chapple and Mary Evelyn Tucker. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000, pp. 213-41.
• “Foreword,” Betrayed of the Spirit: My Life Behind the Headlines of the Hare Krishna Movement, by Nori J. Muster. Chicago: The University of Illinois Press, 1997 (Paperback 2001), pp. ix-xix.
• “Who Gets to Define Religion? The Conversion/Brainwashing Controversy,” Religious Studies Review, Vol. 19, No. 3, July 1993, pp. 195-207.
• “Words, Symbols, Experience, and the Naming of the Divine,” Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 29:3-4, Summer-Fall, 1992, pp. 418-31.
• “Cult Conversions and the Courts: Some Ethical Issues in Academic Expert Testimony,” Sociological Analysis, Vol. 53, No. 3, Fall 1992, pp. 273-85.
• “Social Aspects of World Religions,” Encyclopedia of Sociology, edited by Edgar F. and Marie L. Borgatta. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1992, Vol. 4, pp. 2267-2279.
• “The Search for Meaning in Conversions to ISKCON,” Krishna Consciousness in the West, edited by David G. Bromley and Larry D. Shinn. London & Toronto: Associated University Presses (and Bucknell University Press), 1989. pp. 117-134. (Also an Introduction on pp. 13-34.)
• “Inside the Mind of the Infinite,” In Search of the Divine: Some Unexpected Consequences of Interfaith Dialogue, edited by Larry D. Shinn. New York: Paragon House Publishers, 1987, pp. xiii-xxix.
• “The Future of an Old Man’s Vision: ISKCON in the Twenty-First Century,” The Future of New Religious Movements, edited by David G. Bromley and Phillip E. Hammond. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1987, pp. 123-140.
• “Behind the Avatara Krishna: Bhagavan in the Bhagavata Purana,” Dialogue and Alliance (Theme Issue: “Avatara and Incarnation”), Vol. 1, No. 2, Summer 1987, pp. 13-32.
• “Conflicting Networks: Guru and Friend in ISKCON,” Religious Movements: Genesis, Exodus and Numbers, edited by Rodney Stark. New York: Paragon House Press, 1985, pp. 95-114.
• “The Goddess: Theological Sign or Religious Symbol?” NVMEN: International Review for the History of Religions, Vol. XXXI, No. 2, December 1984, pp. 175-98.
• “Auroville: Visionary Images and Social Consequences in a South Indian Utopia,” Religious Studies (Cambridge), Vol. 20, No. 2, June 1984, pp. 239-53.
• “Initial Views on ISKCON,” Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, edited by Steven J. Gelbert. New York: Grove Press, 1983, pp. 61-100.
• “The Many Faces of Krishna,” Alternatives to American Mainline Churches, edited by Joseph H. Fichter. New York: Rose of Sharon Press, 1983, pp. 113-135.
• “Precision or Reductionism: Whence Myth Studies?” Religious Studies, (Cambridge), 17:3, September 1981, pp. 369-77.
• “The Five Arms of Siva: Oral Transmission of Concepts in South Indian Saivism,” Ohio Journal of Religious Studies, 3:1, March 1975, pp. 31-44.
• “Death and the Puranas,” Death and Eastern Thought, edited by Frederick Holck. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1974, pp. 78-96
• “Indian Communalism and the Secular State,” Indian Journal of Political Science, January-March 1971, pp. 32-45.
• Review. Malory Nye, Multiculturalism and Minority Religions in Britain: Krishna Consciousness, Religious Freedom, and the Politics of Location, Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press. 2001, in International Journal of Hindu Studies, forthcoming Fall 2004.
• Review. Tommy H. Poling and J. Frank Kennedy, The Hare Krishna Character Type: A Study in the Sensate Personality. Queenston, Ontario: The Edwin Mellon Press, 1986, in Religious Studies Review, Vol. 13, No. 3, July 1987.
• Review. Modern Indian Interpreters of the Bhagavadgita, edited by Robert N. Minor. State University of New York, 1986, in CHOICE, May 1987.
• Review. Ninian Smart and Swami Pumananda, Prophet of a New Hindu Age: The Life and Times of Acharya Pranavananda. Allen & Unwin, 1985, in CHOICE, May 1987.
• Review. Paul B. Courtright, Ganesa: Lord of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985, in CHOICE, October 1986.
• Review. Roy Wallis, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984, in NVMEN: International Review for the History of Religions, Winter 1985.
• Review. Lee Siegel, Fires of Love, Waters of Peace: Passion and Renunciation in Indian Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1983, pp. 122, in NVMEN: International Review for the History of Religions, Winter 1984.
• Review. J. Gordon Melton and Robert L. Moore, The Cult Experience: Responding to the New Religious Pluralism. New York: Pilgrim Press, 1982, in The Chicago Theological Register, Vol. LXXIII, No. 1, Winter 1983, pp. 55-56.
• Review. Edmour J. Babineau, Love of God and Social Duty in the Ramcaritmanas. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, 1979, in Religious Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 7, April 1981, pp. 184-5.
• Review. Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty, Women, Androgynes, and Other Mythical Beasts. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980, in South Asia in Review, Vol. 5, Nos. 2 & 3, January 1981, pp. 6-7.
• Review. Hugh R. Downs, Rhythms of a Himalayan Village. New York: Harper and Row, 1980, in Religious Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 1, January 1981, p. 93.
• Review. K.R. Van Kooij, Religion in Nepal, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1978 in Religious Studies Review, Vol. 6, No. 1, January 1980, p. 84.
• Review. Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty, The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976, in Religious Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 3, July 1979, p. 207.
• Review. Sukumari Bhattacharji, The Indian Theogony (Revised Indian Edition). Bombay: Mudhopadhyay, 1978, in South Asia in Review, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 1978, p. 3.
• Review. John H. Hick, Death and Eternal Life. New York: Harper and Row, 1977, in Religion and Life, XLVI, No. 3, Autumn 1977, pp. 386-87.
• Review. Douglas Fox, Mystery and Meaning. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1975, in Religion and Life, XVL, Autumn 1976, pp. 383-84.
• Review. Sukumari Bhattacharji, The Indian Theogony. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970, in Journal of Asian Studies, XXI, No. 3, May 1972, pp. 669-700.

Larry Dwight Shinn was born on January 16, 1942, in Alliance, Ohio. He was the second of four children born to Dwight and Doris Shinn. Reared on a small Ohio farm, Dr. Shinn was active in sports (e.g., football co-captain, baseball, and track) and outdoor activities (e.g., camped frequently as an Eagle Scout). He was also active in the Methodist Church and received his Local Preacher's License while in high school.

After high school, Dr. Shinn attended Baldwin-Wallace College (1960-64) where he majored in religion and minored in history, and psychology. He played football (co-captain), was named to the Methodist All-American team, ran track, and was named Baldwin-Wallace's Outstanding Athlete for 1963-64. He graduated with a B.A. degree, magna cum laude, in 1964. He married his high school sweetheart, Nancy Lee Albright, in 1963, and after graduation, the couple went to Ramallah, Jordan, to teach in Quaker mission schools (1964-65) under the auspices of Baldwin-Wallace's Jordan Mission Project.

After the year in the Middle East, Dr. Shinn enrolled in Drew Theological School (1965-68) where he majored in New Testament studies. It was during his seminary years that Christie was born into the Shinn family. After graduation from Drew in 1968 with a B.D. degree, summa cum laude, Dr. Shinn enrolled in Princeton University (1968-70) where he was named a Princeton Fellow and pursued studies in the History of Religions with a focus on the religions of India. He studied Buddhist traditions with Kenneth Chen and Hindu religions with Phillip Ashby. His specialization at Princeton was in the Hindu bhakti (devotional) traditions associated with the Indian deity Krishna and his dissertation was on the tenth century A.D. Hindu (Krishna) scripture called the Bhagavata Purana. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1972.

Dr. Shinn began to teach at Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio) in 1970 where he remained for the next fourteen years. The summer of their arrival, the Shinn family grew to four with the birth of Robyn. At Oberlin, Dr. Shinn rose through the academic ranks of Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor. In 1982 he was named the Danforth Professor of Religion at Oberlin. During his tenure at Oberlin, Dr. Shinn taught courses on the study of religion (Religion as a World Phenomenon), on the religions of India (e.g., Hindu and Buddhist Traditions in India and The Life and Teachings of Gandhi), and on methodology (Psychology and Religion as well as Approaches to the Study of Religion).

Upon his move to Oberlin in 1970, Dr. Shinn was ordained as an Elder in the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. Throughout his stay in Oberlin, Dr. Shinn was active in promoting the world relief work of the Methodist Church (UMCOR) by holding seminars and giving talks and sermons in area churches on world hunger. Additionally, Dr. Shinn served as an interim pastor for several local churches during his stay in Oberlin. He continues to hold membership in the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church.

In 1984, Dr. Shinn moved to Bucknell University to assume the position of Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. In this capacity he had administrative responsibility for 24 academic departments and 190 faculty members. As a Dean, he initiated a major Affirmative Action and minority hiring plan for Bucknell that more than quadrupled the number of black and minority faculty and an untenured faculty leave program that provided a full semester of paid research leave for all untenured continuing faculty. He was also appointed with the rank of Professor in the Department of Religion.

In 1989 Dr. Shinn was appointed to the position of Vice President for Academic Affairs at Bucknell. In this capacity he had oversight for all the academic programs and support services of the University. The Deans of the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering reported to the VPAA, as did the Library, Computer and Communications Services, the Bucknell Press, the Gallery, the Writing Center, International Education, and several other journals and support services. As a Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Shinn provided leadership for a strategic planning process that resulted in Bucknell's Foundations for the Future and the general education extensions of this plan in the College of Arts and Sciences, A Common Learning Agenda, and The Bucknell Plan for Engineering Education. Under his direction, capital campaign objectives were developed that oriented Bucknell's current capital campaign according to its strategic plan.

Throughout his career Dr. Shinn has authored two books, co-authored a third, and edited three additional books. He has authored more than two dozen published papers and numerous numbers of book reviews. His published research has focused on the religions of India, the study of religion, and inter-faith dialogue. He has also written and spoken on conversion and brainwashing in the so-called "cults" in America. Dr. Shinn's recent writing has focused upon religion and ecology, inter-faith dialogue, and shared collegiate governance.

Dr. Shinn was appointed the eighth president of Berea College in 1994. Since coming to Berea, Dr. Shinn has led an ongoing strategic planning process that resulted in Being and Becoming: Berea College in the 21st century. Dr. Shinn has instituted a team-oriented decision making process at the college that has affected virtually every area of activity from the student life and academic planning to development and facilities renovation. One of the most notable results of Dr. Shinn’s strategic leadership is Berea College’s sustainability initiative, which is evident in the creation of the Sustainability and Environmental Studies (SENS) program, the ecological renovations of several campus buildings, and the establishment of a residential Ecovillage for student families. Dr. Shinn has also provided leadership for the “Extending Berea’s Legacy” campaign, the goal of which is to raise $29 million for strategic initiatives and $150 million overall to increase endowment to support student scholarships, and fund undergraduate research, a new technology program for students, study abroad, an entrepreneurship program, and other key initiatives. More than $122 million has been raised in the first 4 ½ years of this six-year campaign.

Dr. Shinn enjoys interacting with Berea College students, faculty, and staff in a variety of forums. He is a frequent a guest speaker in Asian religions courses, has served as the faculty sponsor for student independent studies on “John Fee and Berea’s Early History” and “Imaginative Christian Literature,” and most recently has lectured on leadership studies in Berea’s Entrepreneurship for the Public Good (EPG) program. Dr. Shinn has participated in two faculty development seminars abroad: one seminar in 2000 that focused on “Globalization and the Environment” in Mexico and Costa Rica, and another seminar in 2001 on “Modernity and Tradition in Contemporary China.” Dr. Shinn has led and/or participated in campus-wide discussions on various issues including Berea’s Christian identity, budgeting priorities, campus governance. He has also served as a regular speaker for the College’s annual Administrative Professionals Day activities.

Dr. Shinn's wife Nancy has joined him in the work of the presidency. Their family now includes two daughters and their husbands as well as five grandchildren.