SIRIS Volunteer Profile: Eugene Timpe

Meet Eugene Timpe, a former professor of German at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC). Originally from California, Timpe came to Carbondale in 1972 as an instructor in the College of Liberal Arts. Known for developing SIUC's Bachelor of Arts program for Foreign Language and International Trade (FLIT) in 1986, Timpe has contributed significantly to the University and the cultivation of its students.

After 29 years of teaching, Timpe retired in 2001 and began to invest his time volunteering with various organizations, such as the Southern Illinois Radio Information Service (SIRIS).

As an on-air reader with SIRIS, Timpe feels that the organization's service is beneficial to the community. "SIRIS presents information to a niche group of people who are unable to read printed material for one reason or another. (SIRIS) fills that void."

Timpe's support of SIRIS corresponds with his interest in community service. An avid fan of public broadcasting, he strongly believes it plays a vital role in society. "We need an unbiased form of information...one that is not slanted by any kind of economic or political considerations," he states. "We can get that through public broadcasting more than anywhere else."

With his strong preference for public broadcasting over network media, it is no surprise that Timpe is a fan of WSIU's programming. He enjoys Classical Music on WSIU Radio and BBC presentations on WSIU-TV.

In addition to volunteering with SIRIS, Timpe is an active supporter of the Humane Society of Southern Illinois. He also continues to write and publish articles in scholarly journals that relate to his area of research of 18th Century German and Austrian Literature.

When he is not volunteering or writing, Timpe can be found skiing, sailing, and windsurfing.