Dorothy B. Wimmer papers

The Ball State University Department of Nursing was created in the 1970-1971 academic as part of the College of Fine and Applied Arts. In the 1983-1984 academic year, Ball State University created the College of Applied Sciences and Technology, and the Department of Nursing was from the College of Fine and Applied Arts to the newly created college. The Department of Nursing was renamed the School of Nursing for the 1985-1986 academic year.

Born in Greensburg, Indiana on February 15, 1925 to Lucian H. and Jessie Applegate Brown, Dorothy Brown was raised on the family farm along the Flatrock River near St. Paul, Indiana. Dorothy earned three degrees from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana (BSN, 1948; BS, 1962; MS, 1968). Dorothy M. Brown and John H. Wimmer were married in 1948 at Star Baptist Church in Decatur County, and subsequently resided over the years in Milroy, New Castle, and Carmel, Indiana. Between 1948 and 1963, Wimmer worked as a nurse practitioner, serving as Head of Obstetric Nursing at Rush Memorial Hospital in Rushville, Indiana. After completing a degree in elementary education, she joined the New Castle Community School Corporation in 1963, teaching third and fourth graders at Sunnyside and Wilbur Wright Elementary Schools until her retirement in 1979. During her retirement, Wimmer taught courses to nursing students at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, Indiana. Dorothy Brown Wimmer passed away on April 22, 2008 in Waco, Texas after a brief illness. She was 83.