St. Olaf College education faculty member and former Minneapolis teacher, counselor and school principal Larry Zimmerman was recognized as WCCO Radio's "Good Neighbor" Feb. 7.

Zimmerman was given the award for his outstanding contributions to the Twin Cities and Northfield communities. He retired this week from St. Olaf after 43 1/2 years as a professional educator.

"Larry's contributions extend far beyond the walls of the schools in which he served," said Mark Schelske, chair of the St. Olaf Education Department. "He coached athletics and served the Boy Scouts, his church, the YMCA and his community. He has never asked for anything in return ‹ just a better world for all of us.

"His greatest contributions to education came during the tumultuous 1970s and early Œ80s, during the desegregation of the Minneapolis Schools. Larry became a civil rights and educational opportunity leader and a principal on whom every member from every community could count."

Zimmerman spent most of his career with the Minneapolis Public Schools, where he was a math and science teacher, a school counselor and a principal at both the junior and senior high levels. He has been an education faculty member at St. Olaf College for the last 10 1/2 years. He is a member of Cross of Glory Lutheran Church in Brooklyn Center, Minn.

Zimmerman graduated from Grey Eagle (Minn.) High School and St. Cloud State College; earned a master's degree in educational psychology from the University of Minnesota; and earned a Ph.D. in counseling from the University of Wyoming.