SHIMEK
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torship in zoology at the University of Nebraska, a position which he held until 1890, when he returned to the University of Iowa as an instructor in botany.
Rise Is Rapid
He rose rapidly to professor of botany, head of the department research professor, curator of the herbarium and director of Lakeside Biological laboratory. His botanical work was accorded international recognition when he was invited to the University of Prague as exchange professor of botany in 1914. There he received the honorary degree of doctor of philosophy.
His most important work as a naturalist was in Iowa, where since boyhood he made observations on plants in all seasons of the year under varying situations and in different localities.
In 1901 Professor Shimek took the first class of students to Lake Okoboji, thus giving the first practical impetus to Lakeside laboratory.
Receives Recognition
Some of Professor Shimek’s highest honors came to him in recognition of his geological work. In 1904 he was a member of the Iowa state geological board. In 1911 he was chairman of the geological section and vice president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 1914 he was honorary chairman of the geological section of the International Scientific congress in Europe.
Early in 1915 Professor Shimek became president of the Iowa branch of an organization known as the Bohemian National Alliance|, which gave financial as well as moral support to the struggle for independence. As soon as the struggle for independence began Profesşor Shimek was ready to carry the message from man to man and there was hardly a settlement of Bohemians in middle-west where he did not lecture, encouraging his countrymen to carry the struggle of the Allies through to success. He carried his message outside the borders of his home state, and became a member of the executive council of the Czecho-Slovak National Alliance and presided at the national council of the organization at Chicago.
In recognition of his services in the nationalist movement and in education, the Czecho-Slovakian government officially presented a special medal of honor to Professor Shimek in 1927 through the councilor of its legation in Washington.
