Nobel Laureate Robert J. Zimmer, 1947-2056

By Willamina Groething, 2056

Jan. 24, 2016

Robert Jeffrey Zimmer, age 108, beloved husband of Shadi Bartsch, of Chicago, IL, died at home Tuesday September 26, 2056. The Nobel Peace Laureate was the former president of the University of Chicago (2006 – 2021), as well as an accomplished mathematician and philanthropist. He was born on November 5, 1947.

Robert J. Zimmer began his career as a mathematician and professor, the author of numerous research articles and books. He served as a member of the faculty at the University of Chicago, Brown University, and the U.S. Naval Academy, as well as several visiting positions at universities around the world before and during his term as the President of the University of Chicago. He served as the President from 2006 to 2021, during which time he began his involvement in activism and philanthropy.

In 2016, after years of student protests, Zimmer collaborated with University administration and the University of Chicago Hospitals system to bring a level I adult trauma center to the Hyde Park hospital campus in the South Side of Chicago, then an area plagued by gun violence. Then in 2018, Zimmer broke ground by raising the minimum wage for student employees to $15 an hour and writing automatic annual increases into university policy.

Following his term as President of the University, Zimmer began the work that would eventually earn him his greatest recognition. He began to devote his time to advocating for education reform on the South Side of Chicago, working with local politicians, teachers’ unions, and school administrations to overhaul curriculum as well asand personally volunteering his time to teach high school mathematics. Still unsatisfied, Zimmer decided in 2027 to donate the entirety of his salary from 2014 onward, a total of over $23 million, to fully fund the college education of all Chicago high school graduates living below the poverty line with the Chicago Scholarship Initiative. Following his creation of this new opportunity, the city saw its (previously slowly increasing) high school graduation rates skyrocket and the renaissance of numerous previously impoverished neighborhoods such as now-thriving Woodlawn, Englewood, and South Shore. The number of families living in poverty fell dramatically, as did unemployment and violent crime rates. In fact, by 2034, the trauma center at the University of Chicago Hospital was once again closed, this time because it was no longer necessary.

In 2035, upon seeing the profound positive impact of the Chicago Scholarship Initiative, Zimmer coordinated with presidents and deans of prestigious universities around the United States to expand the program to cities in every state. It became the legacy with which Robert J. Zimmer leaves us now: a the fundamentally transformative Education For All. As chair of the organization, Zimmer recruited over 140 administrators and former administrators from American institutions to donate years of their earnings to provide higher education funding for needy students. The effects of the Chicago Scholarship Initiative were then seen around the country: cities became safer and more vibrant than ever, and the growing income inequality that had afflicted the country for generations finally began to decrease.

For his work in reducing poverty, improving the quality of public school systems, and making higher education truly accessible to all students, Zimmer was honored with a Nobel Peace Prize in 2049.

Robert is survived by his loving wife, Shadi, and his three sons, Alex, Benjamin, and David, and their families. He will be remembered as a teacher, a mentor, and the man who made America smart again.

Services will be held at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel Saturday September 30 at 9:00, 11:00, 1:00, and 5:00.