President Emeritus Roy B. Shilling Jr. earned his B.A. from McMurry College, a bachelor of divinity from Southern Methodist University, and a master’s and Ph.D. from Indiana University. Earlier in his career, Shilling served as an assistant to the president of Tennessee Wesleyan College, the director of planning and research at Baldwin–Wallace College, and the executive vice president at Southwestern University. He also served as the president of Hendrix College prior to his time as Southwestern’s president; this made Shilling the first president of Southwestern to come to the University with formal education and extensive experience as a college president. 

His first year at his new position yielded astonishing financial results. The University received a total of $13,409,300 in gifts and pledges, and for the first time in presidential history, as Shilling stated, “the financial stability of the University has been firmly established.” The now-biennial Roy and Margaret Shilling Lecture series is named in honor of the Southwestern’s 13th president and his wife.