Winston G. Shindell was hired as director of the Indiana Memorial Union in 1981 and served 23 distinguished years in that capacity before his retirement in 2004. In 1995, his title was changed to executive director of the IMU and the IU Auditorium to reflect his additional responsibilities for the oversight and programming management of the IU Auditorium. As someone who was dedicated to the cause of education, he served as an adjunct lecturer in the School of Education from 1995 to 1997.
Shindell grew up in Durham, Oklahoma, population 35, and graduated in a class of seven. His junior year of high school, he saw a photo of the Student Union in a copy of Redskin, the OSU yearbook, and the beauty of the structure and campus sparked his interest in Oklahoma State University. In 1957, he received a scholarship and enrolled at OSU, becoming the first in his family to attend college. He immediately took an interest in the Student Union’s facilities and joined the Student Union Activities Board (SUAB), quickly becoming committee chair and later president. Staying active in SUAB and multiple other organizations on campus, he completed his undergraduate degree then worked as a grad assistant at the Union while earning his MBA.
In 1966, after two years in the Army and a brief residence in Virginia, Shindell returned to OSU as Director of Student Activities. In 1971, he became Student Union Director, a position he held for ten years. In 1981, he became Director of the Indiana Memorial Union at Indiana University. Winston remained active in his national association of student union directors and hosted many on the Indiana University campus.
Shindell was committed to making the IMU a place where the university family could come together. He worked to make the IMU a beautiful, comfortable and welcoming environment for students and their parents, faculty, alumni and guests of the university. He met the highest expectations of the many constituents who gathered in the union and the auditorium during his term as director.
