During his Southwestern presidency, the University's permanent endowment catapulted from $36.6 million in 1981 to $341.6 million in 2000, placing Southwestern among the top institutions in the country in per student endowment. Dr. Shilling also guided a successful campaign which raised $92 million for facilities enrichment, endowment and current operations.

From 1981 to 2000, full-time equivalent enrollment increased from 964 to 1297, minority enrollment grew from 5.2% to 21.8%, and the number of entering students in the top 10% of their high school class increased from 30% to 56%. During Shilling's presidency, the AAUP faculty compensation level moved from the 56th to the 89th percentile, the university budget increased from $8.3 million to $41.5 million, and total university assets grew from $74 million to $574.6 million. A new campus master planning effort resulted in a complete redesign of the campus and the major renovation and/or construction of 31 of 37 campus facilities.

Fulfilling its mission as a United Methodist-related institution concerned about the quality of life and the full development of individuals, Southwestern has spearheaded innovative programs in the local school district to reduce the drop-out rate and improve literacy. The programs, which have become national models for university-community collaboration to solve literacy and drop-out problems, received the Excellence in Higher Education Award in 1990 from the Association of Texas Colleges and Universities. Under Dr. Shilling's leadership, Southwestern was chosen as one of eighteen colleges and universities nationally to participate in a project funded by the Kettering and Exxon Education Foundations to establish models for teaching leadership and public service.

Two years after Dr. Shilling assumed the Southwestern presidency, U.S. News and World Report named Southwestern among the best regional liberal arts college in the nation in its annual "America's Best Colleges" issue. By 1989, Southwestern was leading in the regional category and would hold its position until 1994, when Southwestern was reclassified into the national liberal arts category, a more selective group of roughly 160 liberal arts colleges. That same year, Southwestern was granted a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and was awarded a $6.7 million building grant from the F.W. Olin Foundation, an annual award based on academic excellence and national emergence.

Dr. Shilling, a native of Enville, Oklahoma, received his B.A. from McMurry College and his B.D. from Southern Methodist University. He acquired both his M.S. and his Ph.D. from Indiana University. Prior to assuming the Southwestern presidency, he served as president at Hendrix College from 1969 to 1981. He had already served as vice president at Southwestern during the year 1968-69.

From 1967-68, he was director of planning and research in the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Baldwin-Wallace College. He has held higher education positions also at McMurry College, Tennessee Wesleyan College, Ball State University and Indiana University.

Dr. Shilling has served on the board of directors of the American Council on Education and the Association of Texas Colleges and Universities, and he has been a board member of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and the National Association of Schools and Colleges of the United Methodist Church.

From 1984-88, Dr. Shilling served as president of the University Senate of The United Methodist Church, the accrediting body for the more than 120 United Methodist Church-related institutions across the country. In 1989, Dr. Shilling was one of 13 American university presidents invited to participate in the second Japan-U.S. Conference of University Presidents, held in Kyoto, Japan. Dr. Shilling also participated in the first such conference in 1985, sponsored by Drew University. Dr. Shilling has been chair of the Rhodes Scholarship Committee of Selection for the Gulf District and chair of the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee for Texas (1985-91) and Arkansas (1973-74).

Dr. Shilling served as Special Counselor to the President of the American Council of Education in Washington, D.C., following his retirement in 2001-02, and he served as Interim President at McMurry University in 2002.