MONMOUTH, Ill. — Bonnie Bondurant Shaddock ’54 is the retired president of an educational television production company and an all-around great supporter of Monmouth College. Be it her service on the Board of Trustees, her willingness to discuss her career with students or the $210,000 unitrust gift she and her husband, Roland "Shad" Shaddock, recently gave to the college, she has repeatedly blessed her alma mater with her time and resources.

But the journey she began at Monmouth was neither planned in detail nor smooth in execution, as Shaddock explained.

"My parents and I looked all over Missouri for a college," she recalled. "I finally picked Monmouth because of its charm and appearance."

After a year of adjustment, she began to get actively involved, a trait that has remained with her.

"I was president of the dorm and president of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority," she said. "Monmouth was great in the aspect of giving you opportunities to gain self-assurance."

Her extracurricular activities helped her grow, as did her classroom duties, which included memorable times spent with instructors like Garvin and Katye Davenport, Carl "Goofy" Gamer and Bob Buchholz.

Although she didn’t know it at the time, Buchholz’s science instruction would have a deep impact a decade later.

"I went into teaching, even though, in fact, I didn’t want to be a teacher when I started," Shaddock said.

After a break to raise two small children, her career resumed, but with a new twist.

"All of the sudden, I had the opportunity to get involved in educational TV, which had only been around for a few years," she said.

Although she called her own science teaching "kind of a joke, considering my struggles in Dr. Buchholz’s classes," the educational programs for third and fourth graders she appeared in "instilled in them a love of science."

From there, Shaddock became involved in communications and ultimately was called to Sacramento to draft legislation that brought funding for educational technology, including computers, into classrooms. Eventually she founded her own production company, Oliver/Asselin, and ran it for 12 years.

In the meantime, she got connected to Monmouth College again and, she says, "When I talked with President Haywood, I told him how much the college had meant to me. I really felt that Monmouth gave me the foundation I needed. That small, close environment gives you a lot of self-assurance and supportive friendships."

That meeting eventually led to a gift for the creation of a scholarship.

"The Bondurant Scholarship is awarded to a woman who has average grades, but who the faculty feels has potential," Shaddock said.

A few years later, along with her college roommate Doris DuBois Schlacks ’54, she contributed toward the renovation of McMichael Residence Hall.

Shaddock’s most recent gift to the college is the $200,000 two-life charitable remainder unitrust, which has been directed to the library.

"It seemed logical, considering my background with television, audio-visuals and book," she said. "I was also director of the literacy task force in Los Angeles.

"It really is exciting what’s happening at the college now," Shaddock concluded. "Each one of the last three presidents has added a new dimension. There’s a great level of excitement among the trustees. The college has everything going for it right now, a great president, staff and board and a great faculty and student body."

And, we might add, the support of outstanding alumni like Bonnie Bondurant Shaddock.