Barbara Zimmer began teaching as a lecturer in the IU Indianapolis Department of English in 1979. She was an avid researcher in the field of intercultural communication, and in 1994, was given the opportunity to become an exchange professor to Malaysia. In Malaysia, she taught freshman composition. She returned to IU Indianapolis later that year when the program ended and continued teaching English at IU Indianapolis throughout the 1990s.
In 2001, Zimmer and her husband, Karl, donated $1 million to the IU Indianapolis School of Liberal Arts to be used to help advance the work of the Indiana Center for Intercultural Communications. The gift was used to endow a chair in intercultural communications. The Zimmer's 2001 donation was not their first gift to the university. In 1997, Barbara donated funds to establish the Barbara E. Zimmer Associate Faculty Award, an award granting up to $500 for travel expenses to writing program associate faculty members interested in attending a conference or workshop.
Zimmer was a 1983 Sagamore of the Wabash award winner. She served as a board member of the League of Women Voters, Indiana Congress on Education, the YWCA, and IU Indianapolis's University Library Community Board. Zimmer died August 7, 2010.
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