Shirley Bach was trained as a chemist at the University of Wisconsin. She began teaching part time in Western Michigan University’s Chemistry Department in 1961, and she served as a research associate from 1964-1971.
In 1971 Shirley became an assistant professor of Natural Science in the College of General Studies at WMU. After the College of General Studies was dissolved in 1989, she brought her acclaimed course in Biomedical Ethics to the Department of Philosophy. She received WMU’s top teaching award -- the Alumni Award for Teaching Excellence -- and the Honors Convocation Award of the Association of Governing Boards of State Universities.
Shirley was a trailblazer in biomedical ethics and research ethics at WMU and in our local hospitals. She was instrumental in establishing WMU’s Institutional Review Board. She led medical ethics committees and research ethics institutional review boards in both the Borgess Health and Bronson Healthcare hospital systems in Kalamazoo. She was a founding faculty member of the Program in Medical Ethics, Humanities & Law at the WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed).
In 1985, she, Jim Jaksa, and Michael Pritchard became co-founders of WMU’s Center for the Study of Ethics in Society. Although she retired from WMU in 1997, she remained an Associate Director of the Center and continued giving presentations to conferences, medical students and community groups. She established two endowments for the Ethics Center that will ensure that her passion for biomedical ethics endures in conferences and talks for years to come. Shirley's enthusiasm for reflecting on ethics never waned. She was always full of wonderful ideas for making ethics come alive for faculty, students, medical professionals and the wider community.
Shirley passed away on February 13, 2018, at age 86 after a series of debilitating illnesses. She leaves big shoes to fill, and everyone who knew her will miss her insight, curiosity and grace. A memorial fund has been established in Shirley’s name with the aim of passing on her legacy to students at WMU and WMed. A possibility being considered is establishing a scholarship fund for pre-med students at WMU who want to attend WMed, linking the two institutions to which Shirley devoted her professional life. This could be a one-time scholarship or, if we can get the fund up to a certain point, an endowed scholarship that could be awarded to 1-2 students every year.
A memorial fund has been established in Shirley’s name with the aim of passing on her legacy to students at WMU. The fund will be used to award cash prizes to the undergraduate winner and graduate winner of the Center for the Study of Society's annual ethics essay contest.